A Song for Peace and War
by KanArcoGuppy
Summary: Fate works violently across worlds, and it seems that the power of fate brings stories together to collide. Maybe this collision of long lost friends brings doom to the world, or finally brings peace, with the help of the occasional dragon or divine influence. Whether one chooses his birthright or attempts to conquer their enemies, fate intervenes and destiny gets its dues. (SI)
1. Awakened (Jason)

The man stood blankly on the stage, aimlessly shambling about. A soft, gentle noise came from his lips as he lost himself in his own voice. The song spilled out like a gentle stream, where one could sit and relax all day, and that was exactly what the woman was doing. She stood idly in the corner, both too shy and too afraid to step forward. She had met him once, but it had been a long time ago. She doubted he remembered. He had sung for her then too. She never thought she would hear it again. She was simply here for her own private practicing, before realizing that the hall had been taken already by this man. But she was not complaining. Something about the simplicity of the man singing in the mix of moonlight and shadow from the broken roof filled her with a calm she hadn't had since the war had started She didn't want to ruin it. She sighed. The man heard, and jumped in surprise.

The man was so used to being attacked that he grabbed a nearby chair and threw it in her direction. She yelped and ducked out of the way, before turning back to him.

"Wh-Why? Why would you do that?!" She said fearfully. She could feel her face reddening. Already, this interaction seemed to be taking a nosedive.

"I… I uh… Sorry I just…" His breathing slowed down and he managed a smile "It's a war you know?" The man said, laughing awkwardly to himself. The woman remained quiet. Eventually the man cleared his throat.

"Um… Sorry. I didn't mean to throw that chair at you, you just startled me. That's all. It didn't hit you did it?" The man looked at her with concern.

"No…" She said quietly, still shaken.

"Oh, good, that's a relief." The man said happily. "I don't think we've met have we?" He looked at her, his eyes narrowing. "Wait… wait yes we did! I remember I was…" he looked away suddenly. "I… can't remember." He said, unconvincingly. Why would he lie? She wondered. The man smiled again and continued. "Well, anyways, I'm-" A thought suddenly struck the man. "Wait… how long… were you um… standing there. Watching me." His face turned a bright pink. The woman's turned many shades darker. She couldn't reveal that she had been there from start to finish, to witness every time he messed up a little and went back to the beginning, to witness his serenity. It would be too embarrassing.

"Oh, oh no, not at all I was only here f-for um… for aaaaaaa….. The last line. Yes the last line. That's all…" She said, unconvincingly. She couldn't focus, she was too riled up from the chair still. The man didn't seem to buy it, but he let it be, much to the woman's relief. He lied once already, he could let her have this one.

"Well… alright I guess." He said. Odd, the woman noticed. He looked as though he was about twenty three, a year older than her, but by his mannerisms it was almost as if he was much younger. She found it almost endearing, but she could put no more attention on it. If he kept staring at her like he was, she was certain she was going to explode from the embarrassment.

"I… I-I'll just go I guess. I didn't mean to interrupt you. I.. You sound good! You do! B-But I'm just going to leave and go back to my tent now." She turned to leave but he called out to her in weak protest.

"Wait, but…" He said almost to himself. He looked around for a moment, almost in a daze, and then focused back on her as her form faded through the doorway. He reached his hand out and opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. It was too late. She was gone. And he was left alone, on a makeshift stage, in the middle of a crummy dining hall. The song was no longer in him, and he slowly made his way back to his tent.

* * *

My first memory was something cold under my face. My whole body ached, badly, and I wanted nothing more than to press into the cold hard floor under me. My next sense, after touch, to return to me was hearing. I didn't like what I heard. There were voices, at first indistinct, but then louder, clearer. _Invader_ , they were saying. There was no way that this was directed towards me. And then I realized it was. _He's going to kill the queen_ , another voice shouted, this time softer and more feminine. I recoiled internally at the first word. It was wrong, though I didn't quite know why at that time. Next came smell and taste, so simultaneously I couldn't tell the difference. Wherever I was smelled of flowers, calling to my mind roses and perfume. There were hand around my arms now, dragging me up to my knees. And finally, after this assault to my senses, my eyes decided to work.

The thing that took up my field of vision the most was the spear pointed at my throat, which led up to a young woman. She was clad in a yellow and black kimono, with an armored breastplate worn over the torso and embossed with a sun insignia. Her bluish-black hair was bound up in a ponytail, and her violet eyes stared something like murder at me. My only thought was, rather inappropriately, _Who the fuck wears a kimono?_

"Ugh! What are you doing here, Nohrian scum? Talk before I kill you!", she said, and I felt a rush of fear. Someone was trying to kill me. I looked around and saw the two people holding my arms and a man standing in the corner of the room, staring at me. He had a low cut red kimono-like shirt and red shoulder length hair, his mouth covered by a mask and his neck wrapped in a black scarf. I couldn't see his face well enough, but I was sure he was frowning.

"Answer me before I make a mess of this place," the woman shouted at me, her spear moving closer. I could feel the point of its head touch painfully to my Adam's apple, and a small trickle of blood made its way down my neck. "So who sent you to kill Mikoto?"

I tensed. "Mikoto? W-who is she? What is 'Nohrian'?" The woman raised an eyebrow and pouted. I could feel her anticipation and readiness to stab me through. "I-I don't know where I am. Hell, I don't even know who I am. Can you please, um, put down the weapons and we can settle this like...like not feudal warmongers?"

The spear didn't lower. "Tell me the truth and you will get a quick death and no one will have to get their clothes ruined. Did King Garon send you?"

I gulped, which only served to scratch me again with the blade of her spear. I sensed this woman wasn't going to give in until I gave her the answer she wanted. But I had no idea who King Garon was. _Where am I,_ I thought to myself. _Feudal fucking Japan? What's wrong with everyone here._

"Oboro, it's clear this isn't working." The redheaded man said, walking towards me. He made eye contact with me and I saw that his left eye was scarred through. He seemed to be trying to convey some kind of kindness with his eyes, though the scar detracted slightly. The woman, who I assumed to be Oboro, sighed audibly and pulled the spear away from my neck, before grunting and smacking me in the side of the head with the flat of the blade. I dropped to the ground and the guards holding me back let go as well, and blood trickled from my temple to the white marble on the floor.

"All yours, Saizo." Oboro sneered at me and turned away.

Saizo extended a hand to me. "Come on, let me help you up." I reached up and took hold of his hand, and he pulled me to my feet. I felt myself moved and suddenly I was pressed against a pillar, arms wrenched back, and Saizo was glaring at me, holding a piece of shiny metal to my throat. Another small cut was etched into my neck, and another stream of blood trickled down. "Who sent you? Why are you here? If you don't tell me who put you here I will make sure you suffer, whelp."

I tried to catch my breath. The wind had been knocked out of me by my impact with the pillar. _Why is everyone yelling at me and pointing pointy metal bits at my neck,_ I thought to myself. "I came from...um…the land of…", I tried to say, attempting an excuse, but Saizo's shuriken dug into the skin on the side of my neck. "I…"

I was cut off by the doors at the end of the room swinging open. A tall woman with long black hair in a flowing white dress stormed in. "What is going on here? Saizo? Oboro?" She made eye contact with me. I had slumped to the ground after Saizo pulled away in almost shame, and was currently trying to dam the blood flow from the nicks on my throat with my hand. The strange woman rushed towards me.

"Queen Mikoto, this isn't a civilian." Saizo tried to stop her movement. "This is a Nohrian assassin!"

The Queen rolled her eyes at Saizo and knelt down in front of me. The rose smell I had noticed earlier seemed to emanate off of her, though not unpleasantly. "Hello! I'm Mikoto, Queen of Hoshido. I'm sorry for the regrettable offenses of my guards. What is your name?" She smiled warmly and I felt at home, but then my brain seemed to freeze. I couldn't answer her question, but then a single name solidified in my brain.

"Jason," I said. "I'm Jason." My head reeled. Saying my own name triggered something in my head and a wave of memory flashed forward. I saw flocks of birds and sheaves of lined paper, balls of roiling flame and hulking undead. I smelt burnt flesh and fresh snow and cafeteria burgers and could taste what I somehow knew was bear flesh in my mouth. I tasted sugar in my mouth and saw a shock of orange hair and then everything went black and I slumped forward into Queen Mikoto.

The sun streaming through the window hurt my eyes. "I-Ian?", I stuttered. "What time is it…" There was no response. The bed I was in didn't feel like my bunk bed back at school, so I opened my eyes. The room in the light was a pale yellow and it smelled like roses. _Roses_ , I thought, and I remembered what had happened in the throne room. "That must have been a dream…" I said to myself, out loud.

"W-what must have been a...a dream?" The soft voice from the other side of the room startled me and I jumped back. "Oh I'm so s-sorry! I didn't mean to scare you I'm so so sorry." The voice came from a girl who was standing in the room. She was wearing a white shirt and a red skirt, which matched well with her chin length red hair. She had a white headband with a flower in it. "I-I'm princess Sakura. Mother told me about how you fainted and that I should watch you to make sure you didn't get w-worse."

I sighed. "Okay, princess Sakura, cut the crap. What kind of bullshit LARP is this? Why was I abducted and beaten with real weapons and...do you know the health and safety consequences? You could seriously hurt someone!" Her face showed no recognition. I tried again, this time putting my fist to my forehead in the universal LARP-world gesture of 'out of character speech'. "I don't know where I am, but the fact that I was abducted or whatever to some place just to get smacked upside the head for your roleplaying enjoyment? This is fucked up. Let me go, I'm calling the cops."

Sakura looked at me with concern. "I...don't know what a 'LARP' is. I-I'm very sorry that Oboro and S-Saizo...that we hurt you b-but I don't know what y-you are talking about...um... this isn't a game...please stop yelling. Um...I hate to uh...worry you more b-but...my brothers said that I...uh...had to bring you to the throne room when you a-awoke so they could...talk to you and uh...I'm sorry I know it's been harsh and uh…"

"Bring me to them, then", I said. _If there was no way that she's going to tell me what's going on than maybe the others will._ I stood and blood rushed to my head, dizzying my vision momentarily. I steadied myself on the wall and caught my reflection in the window. What stared back startled me. My face shape was different, somehow, I didn't look like the same teenage Jason I had left behind at home. My face was sharper, my shoulders wider, and I looked in general...older. And my hair was longer, down past my shoulders. _There must be something...wrong with that window,_ I thought to myself, although I was having difficulty convincing myself the changes weren't from me. I reached up and touched the ends of my hair. _This is unsettling._

Sakura was standing by the now open door. "P-please come with me. I'm sorry b-but as long as you are telling the truth, you should have nothing t-to fear!"

 _If I'm at some weird cult acting game, than this is going to be awful and terrifying_ , I thought to myself as I walked down the hall of the Hoshidan castle. _And yet...Why am I hoping that I'm an abductee? And not some...actual feudal kingdom or...I can't even imagine how it could get worse. And I know it can._

* * *

The man made his usual trip to the mess hall where he usually spent his nights. Not disliking the company of others, but prefering his own, he would sneak in there and practice his craft. On this particular night, he found that he was too late. Another had taken up the stage. The same woman as the one who had interrupted him nights before was dancing and singing to herself silently. Her voice almost made him envious, but not as much as her amazing dancework. She glided across the broken wooden stage in ways that the man could only dream of doing. Dancing had never been his strong point. In a similar fashion as the woman had a few nights ago, the man silently watched her from the corner, where the light couldn't reach. He _had_ met her before, but he refused to admit it. That encounter had not gone as he had hoped it would, and he wasn't in the best frame of mind at the time. No, he prefered they have a clean slate. He was sure she remembered him though. He just hoped that he could eventually make her think that she was mistaken.

The woman continued her graceful display. Lost in her own art, just as the man had been the other night. It made no difference if it was late into the night, or in the very center of the day. The woman would perform. It was the only time she didn't mind having eyes on her. She loved the thought of entertaining, of make another person happier because of her. The man felt the same about his voice. In this mix of moonlight and shadow, the man could appreciate this woman as a strong performer, who was truly dedicated to what she does. The man sighed aloud, alerting the woman. Realizing what he had just done, his head suddenly turned to look and see if the woman had noticed. She had, but she hadn't seen who it was. The chair was already in the air. The man ducked. The sound of breaking wood crashed behind him. He looked back at the mess of a chair on the floor, then back to the woman.

"You know," He began "I'll bet that our leader is getting tired of replacing these chairs." The man laughed to ease tension, but it slowly faded out as the woman walked towards him.

"What are you DOING here?! Why couldn't you just go to bed, the same as the others?!" She said, face beet red. The man realized she was less angry, and more embarassed by his presence. She looked away, as if trying to hide her face.

"I'm sorry," Said the man, "I was was just going to… you know… practice? Like you were?" The woman continued to look away. The man sighed, and tried another approach. "I have trouble sleeping sometimes, so I just like to-" He was cut off.

"... Was it any good…?" The woman asked, almost inaudibly. The man blinked.

"What?" He asked.

"The dance." She said with another ounce of confidence. "Was it any good?" The man blinked again. Did she not realize how good she was? She was easily the best dancer the man had seen! Why would she have any doubt? Should he say that, however? Perhaps it was best to tell her that it was alright, but could've been better. Sometimes an artist wants that, it helps them strive to work harder, to do better. But he decided, in the end, to just be truthful.

"... It was the most beautiful dance I've ever seen." He said, smiling at her. She looked at him, briefly, directly in the face. Just long enough to see if he was sincere. Then she looked away again. She started shaking and making a small noise into the back of her hand, covering her mouth. The man thought he had made her cry.

"I-I mean it!" He said, trying to console her. The woman looked at him again, but she wasn't crying. She was laughing softly to herself. She smiled at him and gave him a light hug.

"... Thank you…" She said quickly and quietly, before pulling away and walking quickly towards the exit. Just the same as the previous night, the man felt the urge to call her back, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. The stage now his, he took his place, and began his own somber tune in the mix of moonlight and shadows.

 **A/N-**

 **Hello all. Welcome to the first chapter of A Song for Peace and War. This chapter and fic is slightly connected to our previous [suspended] fic A Song Can Slay A Dragon, though reading that is by no means necessary. We hope you like this first chapter and are excited for future chapters!**


	2. Family Ties (Matt)

Once again, the man had trouble going to sleep. He wasn't surprised anymore. War certainly wasn't easy on the mind. He understood this, but he kept pressing on. He sighed, got up from his cot, gently stepped over his tent mate, and made his way back, sword in hand, shield on shoulder, and rings in pocket (where he wouldn't lose them), to an open field they had passed on their march. He looked up through branches at the night sky, viewing a universe he couldn't even begin to truly comprehend. He passed stealthily by a risen, before deciding to simply slay it from behind. One quick sword movement, and it was gone. He wiped the blade of the purple dust that remained and continued on his way.

Finally, he made it to the field. An expanse of grass that went farther than his eyes could make out in the night. He sighed happily, put his arms out to the sides and allowed himself to fall backwards onto his back. He placed his hands under his head and lost himself in thought. The very first thing that he thought of, was the woman. They had grown closer much over the last two years, between the first war and the present one. He had decided to spend his time in Regna Ferox, where she currently lived. It started with brief exchanges in passing, recognizing each other as performers. Those two nights in the mess hall were burned into his mind. He had wanted to know more of the dancing woman who had saved his life twice now. After the brief exchanges, he remembered they began to talk more regularly. Every day after training, he would help prepare meals for the fortress as payment for his room. He had no money to his name. She would work in the kitchen on Wednesdays and Saturdays. These were the nights that went by too fast. They would lose themselves in conversation, shy at first, and then slowly growing more comfortable.

Then one night, he decided to go for it. He wasn't sure what exactly prompted him. Perhaps it was something in the stew that he had been preparing. Yet, whatever it was, it was enough. He turned to her.

"Hey so," He began, "I have to go into town tomorrow to pick up some flour and some potatoes for the other chefs. Would you maybe…" He paused, psyching himself out. _Just say it_. He thought. "Uh, that is, would you like to come with me and… eat… something… at some… point?" He looked at her to try and read her expression. She looked away, face beet red as usual. The man swallowed. _You messed up._ He thought.

Unbeknownst to him, the woman had been trying to work up the courage to ask him the exact same thing that night. She turned back to him and smiled. "S-Sure! I think that… would be fun." She touched his arm, before realizing that that could be interpreted as strange. She withdrew it quickly. "We can meet at the front gate." She said. "I'll see you there after your morning training. Right?" She looked at him, a little bit more confidence within her now that she knew he felt similar.

"O-Of course!" Said the man, in disbelief she had said yes.

"Gr-Great!" She said. They kept working in comfortable silence, before their shift was over and they headed off to their separate rooms.

Back in the present, the man continued to look up at the sky. That day in town had gone well. Well enough in fact, that they both agreed to do it again soon. And they did, multiple times, over and over but never getting bored. They had been dating now for about seven months. They'd known each other for two years. But this was still enough for the man. He felt the rings in his pocket and took one out. He held it up against the sky, putting the moon inside the ring. It was simple. This is the ring that had the topaz on the top. His birthstone. The other had a Peridot. Hers. Well, hers if she accepted it, that is. He sighed and put them away again. He heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Fearing the risen, he sprang up, sword in hand. He could handle risen at this point, in moderate amounts at least. But as his eyes adjusted, he realized it was just the woman.

"H-Hey there." She said, quietly. She wore a simple nightgown, and her usually perfect hair was a mess of tangles rolling past her shoulders. Her headband was still on, though. "I saw you leave." She said tiredly. "I thought I would just…" She yawned. "Come enjoy th- the sky with you." She smiled and walked up to him. He smiled back and sat back down on the grass, patting the ground on his right to indicate her to sit. She did. They both laid, side by side, saying nothing and watching the sky.

Eventually, she quietly said, " Do you know any good songs about the night sky" She asked. He laughed a little to himself as a list of songs miles long popped into his head.

"Sure." He said. "Why do you ask? Want a performance?" He had said it as a joke, but she knew that was most likely what she wanted. She had said plenty of times that he had the best voice she had heard. She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes. He began softly.

 _Short steps, deep breaths_

 _Everything is allright_

 _Chin up, I can_

 _Step into the spotlight_

 _She said, "I'm sad."_

 _Somehow without any words_

 _I just stood there_

 _Searching for and answer_

He let his voice rise in volume slightly for the chorus, letting his emotion pour into the sound. This was for her. In his mind, almost everything was.

 _When this world is no more,_

 _The moon is all we'll see_

 _I'll ask you, to fly away with me_

 _Until the stars all fall down_

 _They empty from the sky_

 _But I don't mind_

 _If you're with me, then everything's alright._

He let the final note ring out. The woman sighed, but she sounded almost sad, afraid. The man caught on. He looked at her concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asked. The woman looked up at him sadly.

"I… I just wonder if… if you mean it." _What?_ Thought the man. _Of course I do!_ How could she not see that? Perhaps she just wanted reassurance. Just as he thought that, she continued.

"It's just that, it's war and all and… I don't… I don't want to lose you. You say that you'll ask me to… to "fly away with you" but-" She was cut off by the man sitting up and turning onto his knees. He faced her. She sat up as well. The stared at each other for a moment.

"I…" The man began. "I-I'm just scared. I worry that as soon as I try to change things, that they'll become more dangerous. Either of us could die at any time and I just… can't… lose another…" He choked up. The man had lost a good friend in the last war. Someone he had joined the Shepherds with. It still stung. The woman began to pull him into a hug, but he leaned out of it.

"But… that being said." He said, steely determination in his voice. He looked up from the ground. He smiled. "I promise you that I'm never… I'm never going to leave you. And… and…" The rings felt heavy in his pocket. He thought to himself for a moment before deciding. "And because of that, I want to ask you something." His heart beat out of his chest. He couldn't lose another? Then he was going to make sure that he didn't. But he wasn't going to get anywhere else in his hellish life if he couldn't take risks. His hand shakily went to his pocket. He said her name.

"O-Olivia… would you… p-please…" He shakily pulled out a ring. Fear of rejection griped his soul. "W-W-W-ould…" His voice, typically strong and convincing, had essentially lost itself. He forced the words out. "Will… you… marry me?" He couldn't bear to look at her. He continued to stare at the ground, holding out the ring. He saw her hand come into his field of vision. It moved under his chin and lifted it up to face her. She had tears in her eyes, and the biggest smile on her face. The sight made the man's heart explode in joy.

"Of course I will Matthew. I would've a-asked you myself at this point b-but you know how embarrassed I get. I-I just couldn't." She laughed about it. "But yes Matthew. Yes!" She exclaimed. The ring was put on her finger, and the new couple shared a kiss under the starlight.

* * *

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" I shouted as I fell to my doom. I could do nothing but look down as the wind raced past my ears, effectively cutting off the sound from my three freefalling mates. We were fighting as a group on Grima's back, and after Robin landed the final blow, the dragon's body tilted to the side for a moment, just long enough for us four to get completely tossed. I looked at them. Owain seemed to be enjoying himself. He had his fist in front of him pointed towards the ground, as if he was Superman coming in for a landing where he would crack the Earth and remain unscathed. Severa's blue ponytails flapped wildly behind her as she crossed her arms across her chest, as if it was the grounds fault for racing towards her. Not scared at all, she seemed more annoyed than anything else. Finally there was Inigo. His medium length brown hair flapped up behind him, and his shirt had come up over his face because of his positioning in the air. He pulled it down again and stared grimly at the ground, which was getting closer at an alarming rate.

I gave up, at this point. Naga was out of the ability to help us. There was nothing soft to lighten our fall. We had nothing to serve as parachutes. This was the end. And then, in a manner I never thought would happen again, a dragon spoke into my mind.

"Well done warriors!" It said. It wasn't the evil form of Grima's, it wasn't the kind form of Naga's. It was something else entirely. "You have felled the evil dragon I saw in my dream. I'm sorry to pull you away, but I must. My world needs you to save it from… from myself." There was a moment of distortion when he said that. "Already," The voice continued, "I am dying. I have little to no power left. I'm so, so sorry. But my world need you to save it from me. I know that's confusing but please. I need you to save another world."

I was angry. I don't anger easily, but at 3000 ft and counting, my temper had a short fuse. "I ALREADY HEARD THIS SALES PITCH BEFORE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "I DON'T NEED OR WANT TO HEAR IT AGAIN. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE." I panted. The ground was getting even closer. Luckily none of my allies could hear it because of the god damned wind in our ears.

"I understand your anger, Matthew." Said the voice again. "But I'm afraid…" his voice trailed off as a giant crevice opened up in the earth where I was about to land. We fell in towards the bottom. "That I'm not giving you a choice."

Everything was black. The earth rose up on either side of us and blocked out the sun. I felt my speed decrease significantly, until it felt like I was floating. Once it felt like I stopped, I heard the voice again. "You must seek out the royalty of Nohr and earn their trust. There is someone currently in Nohr whom you must protect, or everything is for naught. I cannot explain more-" And explosion rocked my brain. Soon afterwards, the voice came back. "I am fading… please… stop me…" I felt the presence leave my mind. The blackness remained around me for what seemed like an eternity. And then suddenly, there was a burst of light. I opened my eyes slowly. Cloudy sky. My favorite kind. I sat up groggily.

"...There has got to be a better way… to bring people… to alternate worlds." I said to myself. Is every dimension traveller bound to wake up in a random obscure field? I hoped not. And speaking of which, I was 100% not on board with this. I had friends still in the other world. A thought suddenly gripped me, and in a panic I lifted up my sleeve. Good, it was still there. Olivia's headband, a small trace of blood on it, was still wrapped around my sword arm's wrist. Next: Companions. I looked around the field. There they were, a few feet away. They were all waking up at the same time.

"That was amazing!" Owain shouted, startling Inigo and Severa. He pumped his fists into the air. "I always knew that I was destined to be the legendary hero of the world! I just didn't know it was of _two_ worlds! How cool is that!" His positivity was almost contagious. Almost. Not quite.

"Ugh, why does this have to happen to me!" Severa said angrily to the sky. She stood angrily. "Hey, voice, take me back! We just beat the dragon that ruined our lives and killed our parents! Let us enjoy it a little!" She passed it off and anger, but I could see her trembling slightly too. She was holding back tears.

"Now now, I'm sure that-" Inigo began. He seemed to be handling the situation relatively well. He was certainly shaken as well though.

"Don't start Inigo, at least your dad is here." She said pointedly at him. Inigo shut up. Looking at them I couldn't help but think of my own experience. Well the first one, that started me on this crazy journey. It had been years since I had been to my actual home, my actual world. I was tired. Jason and Maya were dead. I decided I should step in. They needed a level head to be the voice of reason right now. I was as good as anyone.

"Alright alright, listen up guys." They all turned to me, Owain mid-pose. "It's weird yeah, I know, but the voice is gone and it's not coming back. We aren't going to get home just by shouting at the sky." _Trust me_ I thought, _I tried it before_. "So, I know it's a lot to swallow at once, but for now we should follow what the voice said and befriend the royal family of Nohr… whatever Nohr is." I had never heard of this. To my knowledge, it wasn't in the older games. I know about everything that could happen in Awakening, but this was different. I was going in blind. Crap.

"Wait, you're just going to follow the voice? The one that, you know, ripped us from our families? Right after seizing victory? And you just want to follow that same voice?" Severa said to me angrily. I sighed. She had a point, but I also know she was wrong. If the world really did need help, or at the very least, if we wanted to gain any knowledge of this new world, then we would have to go on the only thing we knew. Nohr.

"Unfortunately yes. Look, I know how you feel, more than you could possibly imagine. But at the very least, we need shelter and food. And if the only place we know is Nohr then that's our best shot. As oldest, I'm taking command until we get somewhere safe."

"We're from the future remember? We're almost the same age." Severa said, mockingly. I had a counter for this already.

" I'm still older by a solid 5 years. And also, you're from the future, so you technically don't even exist yet." I let that sit as Severa processed that fact with a confused, yet still angry, face. Owain laughed at Severa's confusion, and Inigo cracked a smile.

"One last thing." I said as we started to gather up our stuff. "We don't have any idea what we're facing here. You should use fake names for now." They stopped what they were doing and looked at me. There was a long pause. "What?" I asked. I thought it was reasonable.

"...It's just that…" Inigo started. "Well… I mean our parents gave us our names. _You_ gave me mine. It's one of the only things we have… left of them." I hadn't thought of that at all. It made perfect sense. I had to say something.

"Your parents are alive somewhere still. We know this. We were just there half an hour ago. And…" I didn't like these anymore, but I decided to make one. "And I _promise_ you, that one day soon we are going to return. Ok? We'll… I'll get you back. I promise you." They looked at each other. Looks like that was good enough for them.

"Very well." Owain started, sighing. "I shall be…" His eyes ignited with a sort of fire I'd yet to see from Owain. "Odin! Odin Dark! Haha yes it's perfect!" He moved away, talking to himself with the occasional shout towards the sky.

"Alright. But I'm not changing it too much." Severa said. She thought for a moment. "...Selena. I'll be Selena. That's not too different." She seemed pleased with it and continued to sort the stuff that was brought with her.

Finally Inigo turned to me. He looked worried. "Father…" He began, his brown hair all out of place from the wind. "I don't like this."

I placed my hands on his shoulders. We were the same height. "Look at me." He did. He was distraught. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. I'm going to keep you safe, even if it costs me my life."

"That's what I'm afraid of!" Inigo said. "Mother… Mother is already gone a second time Father. I don't… I _can't_ … lose you a second time as well." All of this, and he was more worried about me doing something stupid than he was about anything else. _He knows me well_ I thought.

"...Alright Inigo. I promise. We're _both_ going to make it home. Together. We'll see everyone again." I said. He actually smiled. He gave me a hug.

"Thank you father." He said. "Now then, I shall call myself Lazlow. I think that is a reasonable name for a dancer." I laughed. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing, nothing." I said. "With a name like Lazlow, I'm sure that you may be able to actually achieve your dream of being popular with all women."

He blushed fiercely. "I-I still like Inigo more though." He said. "And please, father, that's embarrassing." I just laughed again. He shook his head and cracked a smile. "Well anyways, I'm glad we can still joke around like this. What will you be called father?" I hadn't thought of that. After a moment, I replied.

"I think I'm safe with my true name." I said. He looked at me confused.

"But you said…" He began. I shook my head.

"I know what I said." I cut him off. "But remember that I'm not… I'm not from here. Remember?" I had told him that I was not from his world. He had been confused, considering he remembered me clearly, but I explained that I must have just not gone back home, and eventually he understood and accepted it. I gave up on trying to go back after finding Inigo. I failed to keep his mother, my wife, safe, and I vowed that I wasn't going to make the same mistakes with him. I wasn't even convinced that he would exist, because Olivia and I hadn't had him yet. And she was dead. I still didn't comprehend how he was here as a result, and the question weighed heavily on me. It was one of the things that drove me. It gave me a slight hope I couldn't place. I wasn't sure where it was directed, or what it was for, but I was grateful for the feeling. "Trust me." I smiled at him. He returned it with a lopsided grin.

"Very well father. I trust you." He went off to gather his things. A sword, and his version of my same shoulder guard, passed down from me in the future.

The reason that I felt I didn't need a fake name was because my world was so far from this one that there was no reason for me to have one. In addition, Matthew is a rather common name, Matt even more so. Inigo, Severa, and Owain stand out rather well. They would be recognized if there was anyone or anything from their decimated future here. And if there was anything here from that horrid world, well, then their guts were going to have a nice chat with the end of my sword.

I took a deep breath. I wasn't going to let anything happen to these kids. They'd been through enough. "Alright guys." I said confidently. We looked down the hill and saw a circular city of grey stone. "Think they're the friendly types?" I asked.

"No." Said Severa.

"Welp, let's find out ourselves anyways." I responded. Together, we started down the hill.

 **A/N (Matt): Hey there. So, I WAS going to marry Olivia in ASCSAD (some of you called that) so thats what these first three memory pieces were to convey. Expect more of them, probably with different people, but with the same ambiguity. So yeah, this is my first chapter for this story. I think it turned out ok. Jason posted it early before I got a chance to write this but, eh, what are you going to do? Edit it, it the answer, but anyways. Here we are again. New chapter probably not for a decent amount of time, we go back to school tomorrow. Happy readings! :D**


	3. World on Fire (Jason)

Sakura led me down twisting halls through the Hoshidan palace, apologizing repeatedly in a hushed whisper. Occasionally footsteps would come from the room we were about to enter and she would turn around abruptly. Although she didn't tell me, I could tell that she had been instructed to keep the fact that I was going to meet with the princes a secret. I wasn't sure if that was because Mikoto didn't want me subjected to more pain or if members of the royal guard thought I was a spy and that I would kill the princes, but Sakura was following whatever orders she was given resolutely. Finally, after what seemed like a tense eternity of walking down halls and ducking behind corners, Sakura led me through a pair of large doors that opened into the Hoshidan throne room. Although I had been in the room before, I had no recollection of entering it then, and barely could orient myself in the room after my ordeal. This time, however, the throne room seemed tenser and more crowded, and without Queen Mikoto there, the room was nervously cold.

"Hello, Jason. If that is your name, of course." The voice came from the man who stood in front of the throne. His imposing presence filled the room with power, and that was before I even took the sword at his side into account. "I am Ryoma, crown prince of Hoshido." Ryoma was clad in jagged red and gold armor, a dragon-like mask framing the edge of his chiseled face. His long brown hair hung to the base of his ribcage, pulled back and kept there by the edges of his mask.

"Brother, do not try to reason with this Nohrian assassin," said the younger man to his left, who was clad in blue and had a long white ponytail. He was holding his bow anxiously, as if he was ready to shoot me at any minute. "This monster will create nothing but death, do not trust it."

I pouted and furrowed my eyebrows. "I'm a they, not an it, dipshit," I growled out at the younger prince, which was met by a sharp glare from him, Ryoma, the red haired woman to Ryoma's right, and Sakura. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here. What do you want with me, your Majesty?". I imbued the 'your Majesty' with probably too much venom, but I had no idea what I was getting into.

Ryoma's two siblings grabbed at their weapons, but Ryoma simply laughed softly to himself. "Takumi, Hinoka, stand down. Mother said to not hurt Jason, or did you forget? Besides, why would Nohr send an assassin? We are at a time of peace, and I doubt an assassin could even get by the barrier on our border." I grimaced. If I had been kidnapped by some sort of cult LARP or something, it was a very detailed one. "So if that is eliminated, why are you here?" He smiled, but there was cunning behind his eyes.

"I don't know why I'm here. Sorry if you were expecting some grandiose plan or something, but considering you are the one who must be behind my kidnapping and who brought me to this shitty game, but…" I cut myself off. Ryoma looked worried, and when I turned to Sakura, so did she.

"Saizo, Kagero, take Jason up to the throne." Saizo appeared from behind me and, along with him, a brunette woman dressed in similar clothes and weaponry. The two ninjas dragged me away from Sakura, who reached out weakly to try and catch me before I was out of reach, but she didn't speak.

Saizo turned to me and hissed, "Don't worry, would-be assassin. Once you get on that throne you won't be able to hide your plot anymore. I will not let anyone harm my lord!". I grumbled. I wasn't here to hurt anybody, but if these shenanigans continued I was going to snap. The two ninjas started to drag me up the stairs towards the throne, my feet bumping with each step, and though I wanted to make a witty quip about being able to walk on my own, I figured that it would be safest if I didn't try and earn more enmity, especially from Saizo. Although the brunette ninja, who I assumed was Kagero, stared straight ahead, Saizo's one eyed glare seemed to be burning into my skin, and although his facial proportions seemed eerily familiar, I couldn't quite place them. Perhaps I knew a relative of his outside of this game, if it was a game. Or I had seen him before waking up in the throne room?

As I was dragged closer to the throne I felt strange, as if something about it was changing my thought process. As I was dropped at Ryoma's feet, he smirked, evidently seeing my confusion over the throne's hold on me.

"I guess I should explain things to you, shouldn't I? This throne was a gift to our kingdom a long time ago and was forged by a powerful mage. It has a particular magic that will cause you to think truthfully and to remember anything lost to you. Of course, if you aren't hiding anything, you should have no trouble with the throne." I looked at the younger prince Takumi. He was grinning in a scary way, and so were the two retainers who stood behind him. One of the retainers, Oboro, was, at least. His other retainer, a doe eyed man with a pony tail, seemed just to be smiling because everyone else was, and not because I was about to be executed. Which was touching.

Ryoma spoke up again. "Saizo, put them on the throne." Saizo furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed at me violently, before Ryoma spoke again. "Gently, Saizo! We don't want to hurt our guest!"

"Yes, milord", Saizo grumbled, before pushing me _slightly_ gentler onto the throne. As soon as my back touched the throne I felt a surge up my back like when I was seven and grabbed the electric fence around our chicken coop.

"So Jason," Ryoma said, his tone suddenly harder and stronger. "Why did you come to the palace?"

My head began to swim. I couldn't think of anything to say but why I was there, but nothing was coming up. I just saw nothing but blackness. "I...I don't know," I mouthed.

Ryoma leaned in towards me, unable to hear. "What?"

As he leaned in, my mind filled up with images of eyes. They were watching me. Everyone in the room was watching me and I couldn't escape. And Ryoma wasn't going to let me go home.

My vision started to cloud and my vision drifted across the room. Sakura burned with purple fire, as did the brunette girl who stood next to her with sword drawn. Takumi was burning too, glaring at me. Even his male retainer seemed to be glaring at me, ready to kill me. Hinoka, the elder princess, was staring at me, and I could tell even the kindly man next to her was ready to kill me in anyway he could. And then Ryoma. Inches away from my face, he burned, and his eyes dug into my soul. He wasn't going to let me home. None of them were. I heard a voice echoing through my mind. _GO HOME_ , it said. I just wanted to go home.

"Something's wrong, Lord Ryoma." I heard a distorted voice come from the base of the stairs, belonging to a purple haired woman holding a wooden scroll. _KILL THEM ALL,_ the voice in my head echoed. _GO HOME_.

Saizo and Kagero moved quickly towards me, shuriken drawn, and suddenly I felt myself standing up from the chair. A shockwave moved away from my body, and suddenly everyone in the throne room was knocked to the ground. I laughed. If I just killed them, I could go home.

"Kill him!", Sakura shouted. I cringed at what she called me. Another reason to kill her.

The purple woman staggered to her feet, and I jumped from the dais to stand next to her, grabbing the scroll from her weak hands. "Kill him! It's not like anyone will miss him!" I grinned and held the scroll in front of me, letting loose a blast of energy into her, which knocked her to the ground. I turned and faced Ryoma, and he began to walk towards me.

"I knew you were worthless and untrustable when you arrived." He said, frowning. Ryoma drew his sword and began to approach me, and then suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side. A bluish bolt of energy was sticking out of me. I suddenly felt weak in the knees and the ground approached me rapidly. They were going to kill me. I couldn't escape. I pushed up weakly and tried to blast Takumi, who was approaching, bow strung with blue energy, but I fell to the ground again. He looked down at me.

"Now die." He said, stony faced. _YOU HAVE TO GO HOME_ , shouted the voice in my head. Takumi pulled back on his bowstring and was about to shoot. I heard music ringing through the chambers. _How fitting_ , I thought to myself. _I go out to the sound of singing_. Suddenly Takumi froze. Everyone did, in my vision. The purple flames around them no longer flickered, but seemed to be stuck in time. I turned my head to the door, where a young woman, not much older than me even before I came to Hoshido, was walking into the throne room. She was the only thing that moved, her white skirts billowing and her long blue hair waving in some sort of invisible breeze. The pendant around her neck floated in the air before her and glowed a bright blue.

" _You are the ocean's grey waves,_

 _Destined to seek life beyond these shores"_

My body shook with revulsion. The blue haired woman's song burned through my mind and rang with sweetness and I hated it. _GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT_ , shouted the voice in my head. _WHY IS SHE HERE SHE IS DEAD GET OUT KILL HER_ , it screamed, growing more and more frantic. The fire cloaked figures in my vision began to fade out, as did my surroundings, until the only thing I could see was the singer approaching me. _KILL HER GET OUT GO HOME KILL_ , shouted the voice in my mind.

" _Yet the waters ever change,_

 _Flowing like time"_

The song was warring with my mind. The darkness around me began to tint slightly blue, and the voice in my head shouted louder and louder. _KILL KILL FIGHT BURN,_ it screamed, getting more and more garbled. _THEY WANT YOU DEAD GO HOME KILL THEM_. I realized that the voice wasn't my own and I grew even angrier. Who was in my head? The Hoshidans must have done this.

" _The path is yours to climb."_

The blue haired woman was now almost touching me. Of course the Hoshidans didn't do this. They didn't want to kill themselves. This was someone else. Although I didn't know who, it wasn't me. _STOP STOP KILL HER DON'T LISTEN KILL HER_ , it screamed.

" _You are the oceans grey waves._

 _You are the oceans grey waves."_

 _YOU WILL BURN,_ shouted the voice, now barely audible over the melody that echoed over and over. _I WILL KILL YOU, FAILED VASSAL_. The world around me faded back into existence and I suddenly saw the throne room around me. The blue haired woman stood directly above me, looking into my eyes and smiling, although the smile seemed much more sad than it should be for someone so young. Takumi stood near, too, Ryoma holding him back. I smiled slightly, but then my vision turned towards my side. I was bleeding profusely over the floor, and suddenly Sakura was by my side. "Holy shit…" I whispered out. "I'm going to die…" Sakura started working her healing magic, but my vision was cutting in an out.

"Sakura! Heal them up, quickly!" Ryoma shouted.

Sakura looked worried. "I'm trying, b-brother. These burns...they keep appearing. I can't even start on Fujin Yumi's wound yet", and with this she shot a glare at Takumi. "Azura help me...please…" Sakura looked desperately at the blue haired woman.

"Get them onto the throne, right away," she said. "It's our only hope for keeping whatever was possessing them out."

Takumi interrupted her. "How can we trust you? Everyone knows you're a Nohrian spy, anyways. I say we let the rat die!"

Ryoma ignored Takumi and grabbed me, dragging me up to the throne and laying me there. The burning sensation in my body seemed to dissipate, but I was still bleeding and blacking out. Sakura hurried up to my side and began to heal me. Out of the corner of my vision I saw the purple haired mage who I remembered attacking. She was badly bruised and seemed very discontent, glaring at me as Sakura healed me up. The sensation of a healing staff was strange, like my whole body was nauseous, but it wasn't unfamiliar to me, for some reason.

Ryoma looked at me. "Okay, Jason. I'm not sure what took you over there and caused you to attack me but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Now, again, why are you here?"

I swallowed. "I don't know", I said, softly. Takumi cocked his bow, but Ryoma waved him to stand down. "I don't know, I'm sorry", I repeated, louder this time. "But I know this isn't some game or something. I just...I just want to go home, okay? I don't remember anything."

Ryoma nodded. "Very well. Regardless, you seemed to have some prowess with the scroll, as evidenced by your actions towards Orochi." He gestured to the purple haired woman I had attacked. Orochi sighed audibly. "Since you seem to have no other place to go, and since letting you out of the palace would be giving you to the Nohrians, something we can't have, I've decided that you are to stay here and train. Besides, my sister Sakura has taken quite a shine to you and wants for you to not be executed."

As I stood up, I noticed Takumi was still pointed a notched arrow at me. "And know that if you so much as think about hurting one of us again, I will strike you down where you stand." He said, the bow shining faintly. "Understood?"

I gulped. "Understood," I said, in a shaky voice. I decided to go along with this for now. It might be my only way back home.

Ryoma withdrew his blade. "Very well. Sakura? Show our guest to their quarters and introduce them to the palace retainers. And get them some new clothes that aren't soaked in blood." He frowned in Takumi's general direction.

As I walked from the throne room, I stopped next to Azura. "Thank you for whatever you did back there." I said.

She smiled. "It is my duty."

"You know what possessed me, don't you?"

Her eyes seemed sad and hollow. "I wish I could say I did."

Sakura grabbed my hand and looked up at me. "Come on, Jason! It's time for you to get some...uh...not bloody clothes! Again." She grinned, and Azura was already walking away.

"Okay. Lead the way, princess." Sakura flushed before turning and leading me down the hallway. I felt an irrational hope for the future. Maybe things would start looking up, and people would stop pointing things at me. And maybe I could get home and forget that any of this ever happened. But in the back of my mind I was still scared. Looking down I could see a scar from my encounter with the voice earlier. On the inside of my forearm was a small circular brand, seemingly burned in, that looked like a simplified dolls mask.

 _That will heal soon,_ I told myself. But I knew something was coming, and that whoever made this brand was going to be no ally.

 **Author's Note-**

Hi guys! Jason here, hope you enjoy the chapter. This chapter took a while to write, mainly because I've been writing a research paper on cannibalism (hopefully that doesn't bleed through into the fic) and procrastinating, but hey it's done, right? Hopefully this chapter starts to put things together and answer some questions raised by the last two, but of course explication takes its time. Thanks for reading and glad you are here for the ride!


	4. An Octopus's Garden (Matt)

As we walked down the hill, I grew more and more pissed. I hid it pretty well, but the fact that this was happening just after defeating Grima was a massive thorn in my side. To be frank, I just fought for a solid five years, and I felt it was long over-due for me to kick back and relax for a bit. A part of me still wanted to go home, but I knew it was both impractical and just about impossible at this point. Plus, who knows how people would see me there. It had just been too long. Regardless, I had people to look after now. I had thought it would just be Inigo. Little did I know it would be his two good friends as well.

"This stormy weather reminds me of the darkness in my soul." Owain said, getting more and more into character. It was kind've fun to see, from an acting perspective at least. It wasn't hard for Owain to act, I had found out. In fact, he was excellent at it, and sometimes it was hard for me to tell if he was even acting. At one point I had him recite some monologues I had remembered from home, which went splendidly.

"Owain, I know you love your theatrics, but can't you at least _try_ to be serious? We have to expect anything." Severa moaned. Her blue hair flailed in the high winds. Against all my bets I made with Jason and Maya, Chrom actually got with Cordelia. Everything I had know was a lie. We had a good laugh over that, as I paid them both. Anyways, Severa had the best voice of the future kids, in my opinion at least. She had an amazing voice as a soprano, and she and Jason had performed 'Anything You Can Do' one night after dinner with a greater amount of conviction and energy than I'd ever seen.

Anyways, Owain responded, "Very well, dearest companion, but I must remind you that I am not this 'Owain' you speak of, for I am…" He paused, for dramatic effect, "Odin Dark! Hero of Darkness! Chosen one of the ages! Heir to the throne of-"

"Kill me now." Severa murmured to Inigo. Inigo just smiled and laughed.

"Come now _Selena_ ," he poured emphasis into the use of her new name, "that would be such a waste of beauty. Hey, I'll bet they have tea shops at this city! What's say we-" He was cut off.

"Pass. Ugh, Matt, help me." She pleaded to me. I just shrugged. She groaned and turned ahead. We were almost at the gates by this point.

"Oh _Selena,_ surely you can agree that tea will calm the soul, and we could both use some calming down, wouldn't you say?", Inigo continued. Poor guy. He tried so hard, yet he almost never won. I don't know where he got his obsession with flirting, as although I would occasionally make a flirtatious joke I hardly ever had tried to seduce anyone. Well, besides his mother, but the point gets across. He was as prone to embarrassment as his mother was, but similarly, that all disappeared on stage. Of the three, he was by far the best dancer. Although I'm not a fair judge of dance, as it was never my forte, even I could tell that Inigo, like his mother, was something else in the field of dance. It occurred to me that I had my three best performers from the future. According to them, after the war I gave them classes in various arts. Also, I had apparently written all my songs and works into a book. Essentially, because they weren't mine, I took credit from better artists. That made me sad, but at the same time it helped them through some hard times after I… well, after I died, apparently. Inigo didn't like to talk about that time. Regardless, I had three of my best, minus Lucina, but still. This could still be fun after all.

Anyways, Severa was blushing slightly, and kept staring ahead. "N-no Inigo." She said, denying him another time.

"I even know your favorite kind. I'm sure they'll have it. Come on, have some fun with your friends! Of course, you and I would be…" He twirled in front of her and began walking backwards so they were facing each other. Severa stared him down. Inigo was so into giving her the wiggling eyebrows that he didn't realized we had reached the gate and slammed into it. He held the back of his head in pain as the rest of us burst out laughing. Something about the simplicity of this action in this highly stressful time just clicked with us. Inigo blushed a crazy red.

"Oh gods…" He said quietly, covering his face with his hands.

"F-fear not Laslow!" Owain said, using the fake names and trying his best not to laugh. "For I am sure that no one saw your… mishap!" Owain continued to laugh into the back of his hand.

"Yeah, no one except everyone who matters." Severa said, holding her stomach in laughter. "Namely, us." She snickered. She and Owain high fived. Inigo couldn't even look at them. I felt like I should say something to make him feel better. But I felt stronger that I should just join in the fun.

"Inigo… It's ok" I said in realistic concern. "It's only going to be burned into our minds for the rest of our lives. It's not a big deal." Inigo groaned and tried to hide himself, but he had nowhere to go. My comments started a new string of laughter from Owain and Severa. Severa wiped a tear from her eye.

"It's fine Inigo. Here, I'll even go to that tea shop with you because you made me laugh. I needed that." She actually, genuinely smiled at him. Owain and I shared a raised eyebrow with each other and Inigo's blush faded.

"Er… Yes well, obviously, it was all planned." Inigo winked with all the confidence a man could have. A complete 180 turn. How did he do that?

"Well, fun aside," I began, "We need to find a way into the city." Looking through the gate, I saw that all the streets were empty. _That's odd._ I thought to myself. _It's midday in the city. Why wouldn't people be out and about?_ Perhaps there was a parade or something in another part of town.

"Hey, there's some vines over this way!" Owain shouted. He grunted as he began to climb up them. He made it about halfway before the vines snapped and he fell backwards onto his back. It wasn't high enough to cause serious damage, but it was high enough to hurt like hell, and that was evidenced by Owain's cry.

"AH, MY ACHING BACK!" Owain shouted at the top of his lungs, cracking his back as he stood back up. "Ah, now that feels a bit better. Anyways, as the great hero, Odin Dark, has discovered, those vines won't work."

"What about this hole here?" Inigo said from behind me. He was standing over a pile of rubble by the edge of the wall.

"Where does it look like it goes?" I asked as I jogged over. Inigo thought for a moment, and pointed towards the outer half of the city.

"If I were to guess, it looks like it goes that way. Pretty deep too. Once we jump down we may not be able to get back out."  
"Keep it on the list then. Let's keep searching." I said. We searched around the edge of the wall for another half hour before deciding to use the hole.

"Well?" said Severa, motioning for me to go first.

"Well, this is it I guess." I said, looking at them sadly. "If I die, lay me down in a bed of roses-"

"And sink you in the river bed at dawn, sure. Just jump." Severa said sarcastically.

"I'll give the speech with the words from the song of love." Owain offered. Inigo just laughed quietly and shook his head. I jumped down. The tunnel was actually really well lit and supported, with torches on either side of the walls. The tunnel was high enough that you could stand full height and be in no fear of hitting your head. I looked around a bit for traps.

"Alright, it's fine!" I yelled up. It echoed up the entrance. A few moments later, Owain landed onto the ground, keeping his head down as the dirt rose up around him. When the dust cleared, he lifted his head and smiled cockily.

"Witness the majestic landing of Odi-" He was cut off when Severa landed on top of him. The dust rose back up and I stifled a laugh.

"S-Severa…" He choked out. "W-Why would you-" Severa, without saying a word, hoped off his back and came over towards me. Just as Owain started to get up, Inigo landed on him too. I stopped myself from laughing once more. Owain muffled something in the dirt as Inigo laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry old friend, didn't see you there." He said, laughing. Owain said something louder, face still in the dirt, to which Inigo just laughed again. He got off and offered Owain his hand. Shakily, Owain took it and stood up, leaning against the wall for support.

"Wo-worry not, friends, for I, O-Odin D-d-dark am p-perfectly ok!" He gave a winning smile before collapsing into Inigo, who supported him back up.

"Uh.. Are you really ok?" Inigo asked.

"S-sure." Owain replied, walking like a drunk. Severa just shrugged and kept walking. Inigo helped Owain for a few steps assuring he was ok, and then let him make his own hike. We followed the tunnel for a long time, what felt like miles.

"I can't believe we have to go through this whole tunnel just to get into a city. Why was no one at the gates?" Severa groaned.

"Perhaps it was just later than we thought, and the gates were closed for the night. I mean, who knows, there could be monsters at night here or something." I replied. I had no idea if there were monsters at night, of course, but if this was a video game like before, be it a Fire Emblem game or not, then the odds of monster encounters were pretty high in my book.

"Thanks for the uplifting note, father." Inigo said sarcastically, with a sly grin.

"Anytime kid." I replied. We kept walking. The walls had nothing special on them, just the occasional torch or lantern lighting the way. Eventually, the cave opened up to a sort of combination between a port and a sewer. Interestingly enough, crowds were bustling all over this area, and I could make out the occasional fruit or weapons stand. _This_ place looked more alive than the city upstairs had. Well, at least from the hill. Taken aback by this sudden and unexpected change, we didn't say a word as we took it in and walked aimlessly into the middle of the crowd.

"Whoa…" Inigo said, finally breaking the silence. "This whole area is busier than the streets of Ylisse!" He stared open mouthed at the various stores and stand adjourning the streets. It was nothing special, but maybe it was the normality that got to us that made it seem like a natural wonder. We shuffled our way aimlessly into the marketplace. Our ears were assaulted with tons of conversation, our eyes overcome with the sheer amount of stands and object in the town.

"I… I don't even know what to say. Who builds a market in a…" Severa gestured around, "You know, this place." She exhaled loudly and crossed her arms. Inigo scratched the back of his head.

"I have no idea." Inigo said, bewildered.

"Perhaps the streets are overcome with ruffians or foul beasts of the night?" Owain said, looking closely at a weapons stand.

"Well…" I said, getting their attention, "all we know is that this place exists, and thats all thats important for now. We can find out why later. For now, I'm more curious about the ins and outs of this town. You agree?" They nodded. _Cool_ , I thought to myself. "Ok then, here's the plan. You still have your equipment right?" They touched their swords and muttered affirmations. "Good. Don't let anyone take it. I don't trust this town. Anyways, investigate, find what you can, and meet back here in half an hour. I'll go this way." I pointed to my right. "Severa, you go up that way," another direction, "Inigo, you go to that square to our left, and Owain, you remain in this sort of plaza and see what you can find." They nodded. I began to walk away and down the next road.

For the most part, the city seemed happy and relatively safe. Then again, I'm a terrible judge of these things. Between the three wars of Awakening, I lived in a fort in Regna Ferox, so my experience with location was a little off, to say the least.I continued to walk past the masses.

"Hello there fine sir!" I heard a voice to my right. I jumped. A chill ran down my spine. The voice sounded like Jason's. I turned. There was a man selling knives, and he was the only one there. He was tall, somewhat lanky, and with glasses. I breathed in and out, tapping the side of my head. _That's not Jason._ I thought to myself. _Jason died. You saw. Accept it._

"Could I interest you in a knife?" The man continued. I shook my head and turned back in the direction I was walking before. As I turned, I swore I saw a lock a bright pink hair pass the corner. My eyes widened. My heart pounded. _Olivia?_ I thought. I shook my head hard and pressed my hand to my temples. _No, Matthew, stop. They. Are. Dead. Face it!_ I closed my eyes.

" _Go after her!"_ I heard myself say in my mind.

" _There's no one to go after. She's dead."_ Reason said.

" _Fuck that!"_ Shouted my voice in my mind. " _If it has anything to do with her it's worth a shot, right?"_

" _True"_ Reason responded. I broke into a sprint. I bumped into Maya. Wait, Maya? I turned. I grabbed the woman by the shoulder. It wasn't Maya. Of course it wasn't. Her, above all the others, I should know was dead. I apologized and kept running after the pink hair. I followed it for what seemed like hours, bumping into people and trying to keep up. She always seemed just out of reach. Finally, she turned into a store and the door closed behind her. I almost broke that door down by accident by running right into it while trying to slow down. The door swung open.

The shop was a small clothing store. Tables were lined with strict patterns of cloth and fabric. The front counter showcased actual clothing items, but not too many. I looked around the small store. No sign of anyone with pink hair. The clerk's was red. And he was staring at me. I realized I had just barged in after nobody, like a madman.

"Hi there…" I said, regaining my breath. "Sorry about uh, that." I said, gesturing to the door. The clerk held up a hand saying it was alright, but didn't say a word. I figured I may as well browse his shop, just to be polite. I occasionally had visions of dead people like this. Well, they're not visions, typically they are just people who look very similar to the dead in my life, and my mind confused them. I just needed to take a moment and remind myself that they weren't coming back. They couldn't come back. I browsed the clothing store and my eyes landed on a certain coat. It reminded me of the trench coat I always used to wear. It was still in the Shepherd's camp, I hadn't worn it to the fight with Grima. I smiled. Might as well replace it.

"Excuse me, how much for this coat?" I said this as I pulled out the little sack of gold tied to my belt. The clerk just held up two fingers. "Two hundred?" I asked for confirmation. He nodded. Moments later, I wore the coat out. Now in the streets again, I continued my search for nothing but general information. As I was deciding where to go, however, a voice rang out clearly.

"Flooooooooooooweeeeeeeeeeeeers!" Someone said loudly in a sing song voice. I followed the sound. A little ways down the road was a young flower girl, kneeling on the side of the brick street with a small basket of lovely flowers. I had an image of Aerith from Final Fantasy, which actually made me smile. I hadn't thought about that game since god knows when. Anyways, she wore a pink hood and black clothing, oddly nice for a peasant. As I was watching her, a dog suddenly came up and stole her basket of flowers and dashed with it.

"W-Whoa! Hey! Doggy come back here! I need to sell those!" She began to run after the dog. Luckily, the dog was heading straight for me. I calmly squatted down and picked the dog up, basket still in its mouth. It wasn't a very big dog. It was kind of cute, even, even though dogs aren't my pet of choice. The flower girl ran up to me breathlessly, putting her hands on her knees and catching her breath in front of me. I took the basket out of the dog's mouth and put the dog down. It dashed off somewhere behind me.

"Wow, thanks a lot mister!" Said the little girl. _Holy shit._ I thought. _That smile makes this whole cavern brighter._ She was the kind of innocent adorable little girl that compelled people to hug her just with her presence. She had blonde curly twin ponytails with little black bands in them and little black ribbons on the top.

"No problem miss. What's your name?" I asked her, giving her back her basket.

"Oh, my name is Elise!" She said happily. For a brief moment after she said that though, she gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Then she laughed nervously and acted like nothing happened. _Huh._ I thought. _Looks like there's more to this girl than meets the eye._ I smiled back at her. I had decided. I found my informant to this new land.

 **A/N**

 **Matt:** So how's your night going? Mines good, can't complain, just submitted an eight page essay and thought "I know, more writing would be good now." So I did. Here it is. You know what's interesting and really fun about writing this though? I'm literally just reacting to key plot points from ASCSAD we had plotted out, taking that a few years into the future, and trying to retain how I would actually react. That was kind've our thought with these two stories. The rule is, somewhat at least, that if we wouldn't actually do something in these scenarios, then we don't do them in the story. I've dropped some interesting plot points as a result, but I like the result. It feels more… authentic sort of. Idk, I'm rambling, it's 3 AM. Bye-bi! (That's a reference to a thing no one knows{or it isn't I'm honestly not sure})


	5. Goin' Over Home (Jason)

_The archer ambled about the campsite, searching for the people they called friends. A question was burning in their mind, one that they wanted answered as soon as possible. Eventually, they found their friends in the refectory. They were chatting over drinks, as the soldier had grown accustomed to. Victory was sweet indeed. The war with Gangrel over, things were looking bright._

" _Hey guys." Said the archer, taking a spot at the small table. The others welcomed the archer openly._

" _Hey there." Said the soldier sporting a grin. He had been very happy lately, the archer noticed. Why? That, the archer couldn't say. But, if the soldier was happy, the archer wouldn't bring them down. However, there was something they needed to accomplish._

" _Hey, would you mind stepping out for a second?" Said the archer to the soldier. The soldier laughed._

" _Sure, sure." The soldier rose, taking the drink as well. "You two have fun." He walked away. Now it was the archer and the mage, and finally, the archer could ask the burning question on their minds._

" _So, listen." The archer said folding their arms. "You can shoot fire. That's.. Not really fair, to me at least." The mage laughed and punched the archer on the arm._

" _Jealous, are we?" The mage said, smiling. The archer scoffed._

" _No, I'm not, it's just that…" The archer gulped. "... Ok, yeah, I'm a little jealous, but can you blame me? It's cool!"_

" _I would agree."_

" _Right, so, that's why…" the archer breathed in. "You… should… You know… um…" They had been planning this moment forever, but now the archer couldn't spit it out. Eventually they made it happen._

" _Teach me!" The archer said. The mage just laughed, taking another gulp from the drink. She smiled, but then noticed that the archer was serious. The mage gulped her drink hard._

" _You realize it's not something that I fully understand right? I have no real clue what will happen every time I pick up that spell book. It's dangerous." The mage said. The archer nodded grimly._

" _I realize that." The archer said. "But I want to further my arsenal. These are dangerous times, despite the war being over. Another is likely to follow, you know? I want to be ready to… you know… help in any way I can."_

 _The mage frowned, "Still," she said, "I can't really do it in good conscious. I don't want to light you on fire by accident. Again, I don't really know what will happen."_

" _Then we can learn together." Said the archer, determined not to let the issue go. "Besides, if you're struggling with it, you could always use another set of hand to help out." Silence. The mage pondered this. Eventually, she stuck out her hand, a nervous smile playing on her lips._

" _That's a fair point I suppose." She said. "Want to start practicing tomorrow? We have the victory party tonight and everything."_

" _That's perfect!" Said the archer, a little too loudly. They shook hands, and the next day, the training began."_

I swung the scroll in my hands through the air. No effects. I fanned it open and tried to

will it into the air. Again, nothing. I was sweating already, my hair greasy and water dripping down my forehead. Gods, I was glad I didn't have to wear glasses anymore. They would've fogged up like all hell. Whatever brought me here fixed my vision, which was nice, and my bad joints, which was nicer, but they left the whole bulking up from a skinny weak theater kid to an actually competent warrior to me. I had been at the castle for three weeks, and most of it was just training. Being under Sakura's care didn't exactly help, either. Her two retainers weren't exactly the...easiest on me, during training. I tried to get the spell to fire again, but again, no success. _Come on_ , I thought to myself. _Just… Sheep spirit!_ I snickered. Sheep.

"Jason, are you ready to get back out there?", Hana asked. One of Sakura's retainers, Hana was a small girl with mousy brown hair and a cheerful-looking face, though she didn't smile as much as the person her face reminded me of did. Underneath the cute veneer, though, Hana was relentless and brutal.

"Sure, yeah. One sec." I folded up the scroll and stored it in my bag. I had learned some rudimentary sword and spear skills from Sakura's retainers, sure, but I knew I couldn't hope to master them anytime soon. And Ryoma was expecting me to learn how to use these scrolls, after my...actions in the throne room three weeks prior. "500 push ups today, Hana?" I smirked. Hana was much stronger than I could even hope to be, and the same went for Subaki.

"Nope! Today is for sparring. C'mon with me." I frowned. Sparring meant bruises for me, as Sakura's retainers ganged up on me with training weapons and beat me to the ground. So far, my record was staying up for about 35 seconds. But I was worried. Most days that we sparred it was in between other things, but Hana had made it seem like I'd be sparring all day. It was still early, I had done my morning exercises but that was it. I followed her into a small dirt floored ring and sighed. This would be rough. "You ready?"

I nodded. "Pass me a weapon and I'm ready to go." I held out a hand, waiting for a training katana or naginata, but none came. "Hana? What's up?" She was leaning against the fence at the edge of the training ring, smirking.

"No weapon for you today, Jason! Try to keep up," she said, grabbing a training katana and twirling it deftly. "Subaki is out on a mission today, so you at least don't have a two versus one to deal with." Although her voice was flat and emotionless, I saw a twinkle in her eye.

"This is so unfair. If there wasn't any healing magic here to make me not bruised forever I would have a real problem with you, you know that Hana?" She didn't answer and instead began to run towards me, sword drawn.

"In combat you may find yourself disarmed, or with a broken weapon. What are you going to do if you get attacked?" I tried to dodge back, but the wood of the sword hit me hard in the side, knocking the breath out of me. I didn't go down, but I recoiled. "Hopefully not get hit. A strike like that on the battlefield and you're dead."

I grimaced, jumping back as she swung again. I had taken karate and judo at one point, but it had been years. I knew I had to get her off balance or find a weak spot, but I didn't have the strength or insight to do that well enough. She kept up the assault, her sword smacking against my arm, my chest, my side, my thigh, leaving sharp stings. Most of her blows were missing, sure, but she had more endurance than me and I would tire first. I would need to do something fast if I was hoping to win this bout, which probably wouldn't happen.

"You're lasting longer than usual", she grunted to me, swinging the wooden sword down with a crack against my ribs. _Ow._ That would be a break, I was sure.

"Really? Nice to know." I responded, sardonic as always. I step into her next strike, which hit me square on the shoulder, and feinted to open up my side to attack. She swung to my exposed left side, but I was ready. I pivoted on the balls of my feet and stuck out a foot in the way of her swing. Pushing sharply on her back, I tripped Hana over my foot. She shouted out as she fell to the ground, but she managed to roll and get back on her feet. The wooden training katana lay in the dust on the floor and, wincing from my cracked rib, I grabbed it and swung at Hana.

She dodged deftly, but a smile was playing across her lips. "Hm...well done. But can you use the advantage you just got?" Rather than avoiding me and backing up like I had done when she had the sword, Hana rushed in close to me. The sword was unwieldy against an opponent that was punching from up close, and my skill was nothing compared to her training. She punched hard to my stomach, chopped at my hand to disarm me, and kicked swiftly to my ankle. I almost fell, but wouldn't go down this easy after the effort already expended in this fight. Punches and dodges ensued, each of us trying to land a lucky hit on the other, pivoting in a sort of violent dance.

Both of us were getting worn out from the fighting, my knuckles bleeding and my bruises already starting to blossom. I stepped forward to try and throw Hana as a last ditch attempt, but in my exhaustion I didn't notice her foot coming up in a swift roundhouse kick towards my face. Her foot collided with my jaw and I blacked out momentarily. When I came to, I was lying in the dust with Hana looked down at me, triumphantly.

"Well, I guess I win!", she said, though not maliciously. She extended a hand to me and helped me up, and we limped off back to our quarters. "You did well with that feint. That was a good way to get the weapon out of my hands, and you also almost took me out!'

I smiled. "Thanks!" I laughed. "You did well with the whole...interrupting my cool looking move with a kick to the face."

She grinned like a little kid as we walked back into the small armory by the training ring. She opened a cabinet and took down two bottles of blue liquid from the shelf. Handing one to me, she said "I'm serious. You did well today. You're making progress quickly!"

I blushed and downed the elixir. Although my first experiences with healing magic had been weird and uncomfortable, I was getting used to it. The fact that drinking a simple bottle of blue liquid could fix all my pain was strange, especially since it was so rapid. The liquid would hit my stomach and suddenly my bruises would fade, my cuts would stitch into tiny scars, and my aching joints would return to comfort. It was scary, kind of, how the pain of battle, the exhaustion, the emotional trauma, and the blood could just be 'fixed' with a staff wave or a drink and some hand towels. My stomach turned a little as the wounds inflicted by Hana healed, and suddenly I could stand on my own again. I grinned at her.

"All better?", I said to Hana. "Do you know when Subaki and Sakura are getting back?"

Hana frowned. "No...I'm sorry." She looked to my bag, with the scroll poking out. "Listen, Jason, I know you need help learning to use the scrolls and stuff, but you could be a could samurai. I mean you'd have to train, and all, but maybe one day? You are definitely devoted enough."

"Thanks, Hana." I said, disheartened. The more time I spent training, the longer it would take to get home. I already proved my skill with the scroll, so why learn a whole new way of fighting. At least, that's what I told myself, but I feared the magic use I had exhibited was because of my having been possessed.

"Hey, Jason. Why don't we call it with training for the day there, and we can go into town for the afternoon. I know you haven't really left the castle since you came here, but it might be fun! I know a great little dumpling place near the main town square, and you can see some Hoshidan sights. If you are up for that, that is?"

I smiled. "I'd love to, Hana." The rack of training katanas and naginatas seemed to judge me, and the scroll in my bag looked like a looming, disappointing force, but I shrugged it off. Besides, the fighting had made me really hungry, and I could really go for some dumplings. The spicier, the better. "I'll get changed. Meet you in the courtyard?"

She nodded, smiling. "Mhm!", she said, as she ran out the door.

As Hana left the room, I noticed myself smiling. And not a smirk or a grin or some other response driven bit of happiness, but real smiling. I was happy, for now.

Hoshidan fashion had lots of perks. Baggy sleeves and pants, short sleeves, in general comfortable things, especially in the warm weather. There were a view weird trends, though: bare shoulders with sleeves just on your lower arms, weird chin guards, and needlessly spiky hair. I had met Hana in the courtyard, clutching a small coin purse Sakura had given me, and filled, and we walked to town, chatting and laughing. It was my first time leaving the castle, and I was soaking up whatever information I could. If I was to live in Hoshido until I found a way home, I would need to assimilate.

The market square was amazing. Filled with food carts, sizzling vats of soup or frying oil, children running about selling flowers, and smiling beautiful people everywhere. A little girl ran up to me, holding up a red ribbon lined with flowers.

"Ribbon?" She said, smiling in an adorable way. "One gold!"

I nodded, reaching into my coin purse. "Sure! Thank you, miss!", I said, smiling and bowing my head after paying her. She giggled, handed me the ribbon, and ran back into the crowd.

"You know she was ripping you off, right?" Hana said.

Reaching up to tie up my hair with the ribbon, I said, "Of course. But what's so wrong with giving a little girl the sale of the week and making everyone happier?"

Hana smiled. "Yeah, I guess." She stared off into the distance wistfully for a second before speaking again. "Dumplings?"

I nodded. "Dumplings."

Hana laughed and led me past several food carts, stopping at one small cart by an alley. An old woman behind the cart looked up at us confused before recognition washed over her face. She had the appearance of a white haired prune, her face scrunched up and her skin dark and shiny. "Hana! Oh, darling, how have you been?"

"I've been training, Ama, sorry I couldn't visit." Hana said.

The old woman scrunched her face in more, which had seemed impossible moments before. "Oh dear, you have got to take some breaks from training to see me!" She pinched Hana's cheeks, crooning like a hen. "You grow up so fast! You should stop trying to be an adult so fast, dear, you're going to get hurt!" Her eyes shifted to me. "Oh! You brought a date, Hana? Quick, sit down, I'll get cooking!"

Hana stuttered. "Um, Ama, Jason isn't a date...I'm training them at Sakura's request. They came from far away."  
I smiled. "Sorry to get your hopes up, Miss. I'm just a student."

Ama pouted. "Oh well, I'll have better luck next time. Sit down over there," she said, motioning to a small bamboo table with three bamboo stools around it, "I'll have your dumplings ready in a minute!"

I sat down, and Hana sat across from me. "So, um, Jason? What did you do where you came from, before ending up here?"

"Oh, I-" I wasn't sure what to say. I hadn't planned out my sort-of-lie that far yet. "I sung?" Hana's eyes lit up. Oh god. She was going to ask me to sing, wasn't she.

"You sung? I've only ever seen a few performer shows before, on Sakura's birthdays each year." She paused, part worried for prying and part worried about Sakura. "Could you show me?"

I exhaled. I didn't have any song prepared. "I'd love to," I said. _Oh god why did I say that_ , I thought. I pinched my leg and bit the inside of my cheek anxiously. I didn't know what to sing, and I couldn't simply burst out in song. And yet something bubbled up from me, a weird feeling of confidence. I saw a song in my head and began to sing.

" _I am a poor wayfaring stranger,_

 _While travelling through this world alone,_

 _Yet there's no sickness, no toil or danger,_

 _In that bright world to which I go."_

My voice felt stronger and bigger than it had been. This was my first time since I had arrived in Hoshido that I had sung- like really sung. I had hummed and murmured a view verses to myself, but this was my first performance. Ama had stopped looking at the frying vat and was watching me, and so was Hana. I paused momentarily, breathed, and then continued.

" _I'm going there to see my Father,_

 _I'm going there no more to roam,_

 _But I'm only going over Jordan,_

 _I'm only going over home."_

I took a breath, and decided that I could save the full song for another time. I felt ecstatic, like I had just nailed a performance in front of a packed high school auditorium, not like I had just sung for my trainer and a random old woman.

Ama clapped her hands together. "Beautiful! This reminds me of when I was a little girl, crossing all the way from Nohr to Hoshido! It was beautiful both places then, not like now, but my dear Suna was here so I had to come." She pulled several dumplings from the fryer with a set of tongs, and smiled at me. "You remind me a lot of my dear Suna! Very handsome!" She wiggled her pruny eyebrows at Hana, who sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, who wants to listen to the ramblings of an old woman. You both came here for dumplings!" She put a plate on the small table with five dumplings drizzled in a red sauce.

I picked a greenish dumpling up between my fingers and took a bite out of it. Juice and oil filled my mouth and burnt my tongue, but I didn't really care. The dumpling was intensely flavorful, spicy and tart and I felt like that bite of street food had sent me to a blissful afterlife.

Hana looked at me quizzically. "Jason...you actually like that dumpling?" I nodded my head. "The two green ones are Ama's special hot and sour dumplings...no one but me ever likes them!"

I smiled. "I love them! They remind me of a little place I used to eat back home with my mother!" This caught me off guard, and I saw my mother in my head. She would be worried sick. No, I couldn't be sad now. Hana was beaming at me. "Its super spicy, sure, but I love hot food!"

Hana was laughing now. "Me too! It's like...battle training for your mouth."

Ama giggled to herself like a raven. Her old croaky voice seemed to convey both something ominous and something caring. "Well, it's starting to get dark. You two should get back to the castle before it gets too late."

I nodded. "Thank you for the dumplings, Ama." I held out a handful of gold coins to her, but she pushed my hand back.

"Dumpling on the house. Now hurry along, you two!" I knew better than to insist on paying.

"Thank you again, Miss." I said.

"Thanks for the dumplings, Ama." Hana said, and we started our way out of town and back up to the castle.

We walked about halfway back to the castle in silence. Not a silent-treatment kind of a silence, but something quiet. _Like the sound of a page turning a book/ Or a pause in a walk in the woods_ , I am reminded, a lyric sung by a little girl in a show I saw long ago.

"Thank you again, Hana. For taking me to town today, yes, but thank you for the training too." I said.

Hana smiled. "You're welcome. And as for the training, that's just my duty. Anyone who can help protect my lady Sakura is a worthy investment." She paused, and took start. "Not that you are only a worthy investment! You're a friend, of course."

I laughed. "I understand, don't worry. The Hoshidans are only keeping me alive as long as I'm useful in training."

"They would never do that!" Hana gasped. "The Hoshidans are good people! They aren't like Nohrians, running around slitting everyone's throats, and stuff. If you weren't training they'd probably just let you go, though they might keep an eye on you so not to report anything to their enemies."

"What's up with those Nohrians, anyways? Why does everyone hate them? What did they do?"

"They keep attempting to start war with us, sending troops to attack, trying to take our land, threatening the royalty. Don't worry: as long as Lady Mikoto is alive we are safe."

"So they have a corrupt king?"

"It's not just their king, Jason. They are all corrupt!"

I was confused. Hoshidans talked like all Nohrians were evil. This seemed less a political dispute and more a vendetta. "I'll take your word for it, about these bloodthirsty Nohrians, then. What made them be so evil?"

Hana nodded, choking up. "They…they tried to abduct Sakura when she was young. And succeeded in kidnapping her sister. They've torn apart the kingdom and everyone I care about. They killed my father." I didn't speak. This was kind of a blow from left field.

"I...I'm sorry, Hana.", I said after an awkward silence.

"It's okay", she said, not quite okay. She was really worked up. "Would you mind singing the rest of that song, Jason?"

"Of course not."

"Thank you." She said, smiling sadly. I began to sing, and repeated the song twice over before we made it back to the castle.

" _I am a poor wayfaring stranger,_

 _While travelling through this world alone,_

 _Yet there's no sickness, no toil or danger,_

 _In that bright world to which I go._

 _I'm going there to see my Father,_

 _I'm going there no more to roam,_

 _But I'm only going over Jordan,_

 _I'm only going over home._

 _I know dark clouds will hang around me,_

 _I know my way is rough and steep_

 _Yet beautiful fields lie just beyond me_

 _Where God's redeemed their vigils keep._

 _I'm going there to see my mother_

 _She said she'd meet me when I come_

 _I'm only going over Jordan_

 _I'm only going over home._ "

 _The training between the mage and the archer proceeded splendidly. Together, they worked it out so that, while the mage received the most time to train with the tomes, the archer was also given some time to learn and practice. It came much less easily to the archer than it did to the mage, but they both did progress, to the point where the archer could use basic magic. The final test approached. His name was Walhart. The axe in his hand glinted off of the lighted filtering through the windows of his castle, his red armor glinting just as much, sending streaks of red in every direction. All that opposed him, was a mage and an archer. They were tasked to kill him, as not only did they work well together, but they were well experienced and the mages magic would demolish the conqueror's armor. Before they approached him, the archer took the mage's hand. She turned back._

" _Listen, I just wanted to say… no matter what happens, I-"_

" _Save it." The mage cut him off and tried to turn. The archer held fast._

" _But I-" The archer tried, but the mage broke free and looked back. She smiled._

" _Tell me after. Ok?" She smiled for the archer's sake. The archer swallowed hard, and nodded slowly. Together, they approached the throne._

 _Without saying anything, Walhart began his charge. The archer and mage dodged to either side, and as Walhart turned, fired their weapons. The fireball flew past, and the arrow shattered against his armor. Walhart charged again, to the archer. They had planned for this. As the archer pulled back an arrow, standing tall and still, the mage lit the arrow on fire. The archer shot true, sending the arrow straight at Walhart's head. Walhart had no choice but to duck and change direction. He turned for the mage. The mage was ready. She had summoned as many fireballs as possible while Walhart was focusing the archer, and now, she sent them flying. Two of the six connected, one hitting Walhart's leg, the other his face. Walhart cried in pain, holding his face. This was the archer's chance. The archer pulled back an arrow and let it fly, towards Walhart's turned head. Shouting in pain and anger, Walhart's head snapped to the archer as the arrow flew. And then…_

 _He caught the arrow a few inched from his forehead. The archer gasped, lowering the bow. How was that possible? It couldn't be possible. No one was that good. Walhart seemed to disagree. The mage and archer, now near each other again, backed up slowly and Walhart stared them down. Fear gripped the archer's soul. How could they kill him if his only vulnerable spot could be defended so easily? Then, in another act that surprised them, Walhart lifted his massive axe and threw it. The archer sidestepped, but the mage was so in shock that it hit her on the shoulder. It was as if the world turned to slow motion, as the archer watched in horror as the mage's arm fell to the floor. The mage went wide eyed for a moment, before falling to her knees and crying out in sheer agony. The archer ran to her side and gripped her shoulder, trying to stop the blood flow. Walhart had drawn a new weapon, a demonic looking sword, and was advancing quickly. The archer tried to notch another arrow, but Walhart was there already. The archer braced for impact. There was a sharp pain in their side, as they experienced being cut in half at the waist, when suddenly, the cut stopped advancing. The archer opened their eyes. The soldier had tackled Walhart off of his horse and was now swordfighting him. The soldier was clearly losing, but he cried out anyways,_

" _DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" At a pause he quickly glanced at the archer, before returning his eyes to the conqueror. "JUST HELP HER!" He charged Walhart. The archer's eyes flew back down to the mage. She was breathing heavily and crying, and there was nothing that the archer could do, or could think to do. The injury the archer suffered was impairing their vision from the pain and blood loss. The mage mumbled something. The archer leaned in to hear._

" _In my bag." She wheezed out." There's a purple book. Grab it." The archer fumbled for it and held it to her. She used her good arm to push it back. "I need you…" She was getting weaker. The archer held back tears. "To use it… on me…" She said. The archer was confused. They looked at the book cover. In dark lettering was a single word: Nosferatu. The archer's eyes grew wide._

" _No… NO!" The archer cried into the mages stomach. "No, I'm… I'm not doing that to you, I-. you- NO!" The archer's tears flew out like rivers. The mage smiled and brushed them away._

" _You… need to heal… and.. I can't fight like this anyways. I can al… ready… feel myself slipping… away… please…." The mage said. The archer struggled to find the words to express this feeling. Deep down, they knew there was no option. The soldier was losing. Time was limited. The archer stood, wobbling, and looked down at the mage. She smiled one last time._

" _It's… ok… Jason…" The mage said. "It's… what… I want…"_

" _I know…" Jason said. "But that doesn't make this less hard for me." Jason opened the book. "J-Just know…" Jason looked into the mages eyes. "I'll miss you… Maya…" The mage, unable to speak, merely gave a bloody toothy grin, and mouthed the words._

" _Me too." Jason used the spell. They felt Maya's energy mend their wounds, sealing them like they never existed. Fully healed, Jason stood, just as the soldier was thrown to the ground. Jason drew their dagger and charged._

" _WALHART!" Jason screamed in an unearthly manner. The conqueror turned before getting the chance to finish the soldier, and just before the dagger entered his head, the conqueror felt a new emotion._

 _Fear._

 **A/N-** Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! Matt and I are both finishing up our years at the moment, so we'll hopefully have more time to write, and maybe we can even have a regular update schedule (As if). This chapter wasn't _super_ action packed and for that I'm sorry, but it was meant to set up some relationships and backstory and atmosphere. Not everything can be battles, because then there wouldn't be any fun in them!


	6. Something in the Way She Moves (Matt)

_The archer opened the door to their quarters, staring into the darkness. They froze: there was a sound. Someone was rummaging around in their room. "Who's there?", they called out, more than a little afraid. Nothing came back from the darkness. They fiddled around in the dark for the candle and matches they kept by the door, and lit the candle. Orange light flickered into life, coursing across the room, bookshelves a mess and central chest broken open. Tall shadows stretched out across the room. A figure was illuminated in the central of the room, clad in all blacks and browns, lanky to a fault, distinguished from the shadows, and the archer themself, by its shocking orange hair. "You thief!" The thief held his hands up, his fingers stained with chocolate, and a lollipop in his mouth._

" _Hey hot lips, don't mind me!" The thief's words were muffled by the candy stuffing his mouth. "The Prince said you had candy."_

 _The archer gritted their teeth, struggling to keep themselves from grabbing their dagger and stabbing the thief. "Hot lips? Really?" The thief was known to nickname others, but the archer found this excessive. "Whatever, I don't care. Why didn't you just ask for my candy? Like, you know, a normal person!"_

 _The thief went wide eyed and took the lollipop out of his mouth. "Ask? And be indebted to you forever? As if!"_

 _The archer frowned. "Is that how you think it really works? Because that's not how it really works.", they said. "Whatever. I'm tired. I spent all day training. You keep eating, or whatever, I'm going to bed. Oh, don't forget to tell the prince to stick it for giving away my stash." The archer grabbed a still wrapped lemon-flavored sweet from the thief's hands, popped in their own mouth, and turned to walk away, still holding the candle._

" _I don't owe you anything?", the thief asked._

" _No. It's called a gift!", the archer replied, and headed out of the room._

" _Well in that case…", mumbled the thief. "Yo, hot lips."_

 _The archer turned around, groaning in frustration. "What do you want?"_

 _The thief bolted forward and grabbed the archer's face, pulling them into a kiss. The archer froze, confused, mouth open but unable to voice an exact complaint. Every tasted lemon for both._

" _See you later, hot lips!" Said the thief, grabbing the grappling hook hanging out of the archer's window and rappelling away. The archer stood, confused, touching their lips. They weren't sure why what just happened had happened, but they weren't upset, quite. Something was wrong, however. Something missing from their mouth. Something lemony and sweet._

 _They let out an angry exhale. "Son of a bitch stole my fucking candy."_

The girl smiled brightly at me, swaying a little and holding her basket in front of her with both hands. She couldn't have been older than eight.

"So how old are you miss?" I asked her, kneeling to her height.

She laughed, "Hehehe, I'm seventeen!" She smiled, like there was nothing odd about that. _What the fuck._ I thought, not questioningly, just a statement. I swallowed and maintained my "Winner's smile".

"Well that's… a nice age." I said. I guess I was almost seventeen when this all started. Not entirely unreasonable. What was I saying, yes it was. I killed someone at that age. Hopefully, this girl hadn't done anything similar. Hopefully. Something caught my eye, poking out of her bag on her side. "So what's that?" I said, pointing to it. I knew what it was. I just wanted to see what she'd say.

She looked back and turned red. "OH!" She said, tying her bag closed and blushing. "Th-thats nothing." She said. Liar. Strike one. It was a sack of gold. Way more gold, in fact, than any street flower girl in the slums should have.

"Oh, alright then. I won't pry." I smiled. She smiled back. "Where do you live? Do you need me to walk you there?" Again, she had to think about it.

"No, I'll be fine going home myself." She said, happily. She ignored the first part. Strike two. One more strike, and I was going to look further into this little girl. I slapped myself mentally. _Phrasing, mind, phrasing._ Still seventeen at heart, I guess. I may have fought three wars, but this sort of thinking still made me chuckle. How stupid.

"Alright if you say so. Hey, before I forget…" I took out a few gold coins. "I would _love_ to buy some flowers for my friends and I. How much for four?" She paused and looked back at me nervously. She didn't like how many questions I asked earlier it seemed.

"Well…" She pondered. "You were nice to me, so I'll sell them to you for two gold!" She wanted it to end here.

"Looks like I only have larger coins, these are each ten. Would you mind giving me change? I'm travelling, so I need all the money I can get."

"Oh… yeah…" She said, reaching into her bag again. I needed to know just how much gold. This girl shouldn't be this rich. Something wasn't adding up. As she bent to reach for the gold from her bag, I "accidently" fell off balance a little.

"Whoa!" I shouted, falling into her. My clear weight difference was too much for her to bear, and she fell over, the gold sack spilling copious amounts of cash onto the ground. I smiled mentally.

"Oh now what do I do!" She complained, starting to pick it up. She thrust a couple of coins into my hands. "Heres your change, I guess. Mind helping me pick it up?" I was about to ask how she came across this much gold, when suddenly, she yelped. I looked back up and saw a flash of metal. There was a knife to her throat. _Damn._ I thought. _Criminals work fast here._ I slowly rose. There were three rogues in front of me, each with a belt of knives. My sword remained sheathed at my side, hidden by my new trench coat. My shoulder shield was on under it as well. Good.

"Alright, let's not be hasty now." I said calmly. Elise looked like she was going to cry. I put her through so much and here she was now, because of me. I swallowed. I let my investigative side get the best of me. I continued, "What do you want?" It was obvious, but I was buying time to think through a plan.

"That shouldn't even be a question." Said one of them. "We want that gold. That's more than most of us have seen in a lifetime. So, we're taking it, and when we do, the girl doesn't get hurt. Sound good? Sounds good." He held out several knives, as though to throw them. "Unless you uh… wanted to negotiate?" He said, chuckling. His friends joined in. Elise looked incredibly scared.

"Ok well… Take it. Fine. But if you hurt her at all, you're going to regret it." I said. They still didn't check me for weapons yet. As far as I could tell, they still didn't know. I continued to act reserved. One rogue came forward, grinning, and ignored me in favor of the money. The other two were focusing on Elise, taunting her with the knives any time she made any sort of movement for the gold. _Now._ I thought.

I started with the guy kneeling at the gold. I sprinted forward the few feet to where he was and jabbed a knee into his face. I heard a crunch as he fell backwards. The others were on me now, one getting ready to throw from the back, and the other coming at me with longer dueling knives. I drew my sword.

"Take your friend and go." I said, "Unless, of course, you _wanted_ to have your bones broken." I said it confidently, but they didn't believe me. The back one threw a knife at my face. I just turned and let it hit my shield. "Ok then." I said under my breath. I dashed to the closest one, the one with dueling knives, and started a full offense on him. I kept him in between me and the other rogue so that any knives thrown would hit my opponent and not me. Any time the guy in the back tried to reposition, so would I. This common thug was, frankly, no match for me. I'd fought dragons at this point. I had _wished_ of course, that I wouldn't ever have to fight again after that. Yet, here we were…

I gave the thug a nice gash on his side that left him open on his leg, where I quickly put another gash. He fell over and tried to stand again, unable. A knife whizzed past my face. I turned, sprinting to the last one. He threw one last knife in desperation, which I deflected easily. I stabbed him in his throwing arm and kneed him in the gut. He fell over. I pointed my sword at his throat.

"I'll say it one more time." I said. I didn't have to. He put his hand up, free of knives, and went to gather his friends. Together they hobbled off into a side street. I sighed, taking a cloth from my bag and cleaning the blood on my sword. Another small reminder that I was hurting actual _people_ again. I missed the days when this was purple goo.

"That was amazing!" I heard behind me. Elise bounced up and down clapping. I did a small theatrical bow. Then she stopped and put her head to the side. "But… you didn't kill them. They were criminals, shouldn't you have killed them?" She said it so casually. I staggered a little. I didn't expect that at all, especially from a little girl like her. That was… kind of dark, to be honest.

"Why would I? They learned their lessons. There's no reason to take a life unless it's an absolute threat to yours." I said, raising an eyebrow.I figured that was kind've a normal worldview.

"... I see." She said. She looked down, putting her hands behind her back and shifting from side to side. Finally, she seemed to work up the courage. "U-um. Would you mind coming back to my… home… with me? I think we need someone like you…" She looked up at me, her head still tilted down.

"How so?" I asked.

"Well… my father has been a little weird recently, and I just feel like maybe you could… talk to him… and try to maybe change him from killing people? He does it too much, I think." She said.

"Wh-Why does your father kill people in the first place? Because they're criminals?"

"Well, yeah…"

"But… why would he do that? Why does he care about criminals?"

"Because…" She looked around. "Because he's the king?" I stood still. No wonder she was loaded. It wasn't hard to act surprised.

"... So you're a princess then?" I said. She jumped up and held a hand over my mouth, looking around.

"Uhm… No." She said, nodding her head. "Look, can you just come with me? I really think that maybe you could make a nice difference there. Please?" She said. She saw my expression hadn't changed. "Pretty please?" She asked again. This was my ticket into the royal family. I wondered what they would be like. If this underground city was their main attraction, they couldn't really be so important right? Maybe not. There was no way to tell yet. Also, I wasn't sure what sort of stern talking I could give that would change the mind of a king that kills people as often as she was making it seem, but I guess I could always try. I smiled.

"Well, how could I say no?" I said. She clapped and gave me a hug.

"Thanks! And, thanks for helping me of course."

"Not a problem. Do you mind if we wait a little while to go back to your cast- er, home? I need to find my friends first." I motioned back to the main square where we entered this city. I was supposed to meet them back there. It had easily been over half an hour.

"Alright." She said. "Are they as nice as you are?" She asked.

"I think so. Why don't you find out yourself?" I said, gesturing for her to follow.

When I got back to the square, what I saw… well, I wish I could say it surprised me. There were Severa and Inigo, clad in new equipment and similar clothing to others around them in order fit in better. It was almost like a vest, with white embroidered sleeves underneath. Severa was holding a bag in her arm, holding what looked like another piece of similar clothing that was probably for me. And then…

Owain. Dear god, Owain, why. Why would you… How did you… Why did you… Why? Just why? He was wearing something that I can only describe as a very… VERY exaggerated v-neck, if Owain's neck stretched to his crotch. His abs were fully shown and flaunted. His shoulders sported yellow cloth shoulder pads. He had something new tied around his head. His pants were completely skintight and some dark color. And… oh god that bulge. That BULGE. I suppressed the instinct to stab him. So much for being inconspicuous. He kept doing these poses with… was that a spellbook?... How much did he spend!? I wasn't made of gold!

"Are those your friends?" Elise said, pointing to them and holding onto the sleeve of my new coat. I sighed and looked at them. Severa was trying to hold Owain down but he kept breaking free, shouting something random and posing anew. I opened my mouth, ready to respond, but then closed it again. I really wanted to deny that I knew them.

"... Yup, those are them." I said, confidently. I braced myself for her reaction.

"They look…" She began

"Ridiculous? Immature? Asinine?" I offered.

"... so awesome!" She finished, jumping up and down. I groaned. She was just going to be another crazy wasn't she. "I haven't seen people that energetic in the city since… well I don't even know! They look so happy together…" She trailed off. Something about the way she said it made it so sad, but before I could say anything I heard a piercing cry.

"HARK!" shouted a voice that shook the rafters. "Is that not our compatriot and lover of song? I believe it is! Matthew, come hither, we have gifts for you! Your son wishes to bestow one upon you in private!" Owain shouted at us across the square, drawing several looks. Elise looked at me in wonder.

"You have a son? Which one is he? And why is he as old as you?" She said, pointing to Owain and Inigo. I sighed.

"Yes, the one with brown hair is my son. His name is In-" I coughed to correct myself. "Laslow. His name is Laslow. And as for the age…" I looked at him. He smiled and waved back. "... well it only looks like we're a similar age, when I assure you there's a decent age gap between us." It wasn't untrue, it was just somewhat false at the same time. Technically, he wasn't born yet so… yeah. I was way older than he was.

Elise nodded slowly. "Ok, that makes sense I guess." She looked up at me and smiled. "I guess you're just older than you look huh?" It was a very simple comment, but it still hit me hard. How old was I now? Coming into the world of Awakening I was seventeen. I was age advanced to twenty. The wars took five years to complete, meaning I looked twenty five about now. But, if I subtracted the three years that were taken from me I was… twenty two. I still felt seventeen, in some senses.

"Yeah…" I said. "I guess I am… older… than I look." I was so lost in thought that Elise took notice, but before she could say anything about it, the others had come over.

"Are you alright father? You look a little pale." Inigo said, putting a hand on my shoulder and looking me in the eye.

"I'm fine kid, never better." I said. He could tell I was lying, but he ignored it.

"Well, great." Severa said, not caring as always. "Care to tell us why you weren't here on time? We bought you new clothes and everything. Honestly, you're so ungrateful." She huffed and pushed the bag of clothes into my chest. As I suspected, the clothes matched those of Inigo and Severa. I'd have to talk with Owain about his choices later.

"Uhm…" I started. "Well I ended up fighting off some thugs for this little girl." I said, pushing Elise forward a little with my hand. "Turns out she uh… could use us for a special mission."

"And you just accepted? Without even thinking of talking to us?" Severa said, sneering at me.

"Well… yeah?" I said. She punched my arm, hard. "There's a reason!" I shouted, rubbing my arm. She cocked an eyebrow.

"Great. Do tell." She said.

"She's-" I began, then looked around lowering my voice. "She's a princess of Nhor." I said. Severa looked at me, multiple expressions crossing her face. Anger. Confusion. Shock. Suspicion. Back to anger. Then finally, to panic. She knelt at Elises feet. Owain and Inigo did the same.

"I'm sorry for being rude in your presence milady!" Severa said, doing a complete 180 into the formal language she was forced to learn as a princess herself. "My name is Selena. My friends here are Odin and Laslow. Please accept our humble apologies." Inigo and Owain knelt as well.

"Uhm… I really don't mind." Elise said, confused. This was a little too much for her to take all at once.

"It's ok Selena. Get up." I said. She stood, brushing off her pant legs. She smiled at Elise, now trying her best not to ruin our chance at getting in with the royal family. I turned to Elise again. "They're usually not like this. We won't accidently burn the castle down or anything, I promise." I said, adding a little laugh at the end to break tension. Oh, how I wished I hadn't promised that.

 _An arrow thudded into the wooden table around which the archer, the mage, and the mercenary were sitting. The mage laughed, examining the arrow._

 _The mage turned to the archer. "Aren't your arrows grey fletched, like these?", she said._

 _Unfurling the note on the arrow, the archer cursed._

" _What does it say?", said the mercenary._

 _The archer read aloud. "'Meet me in the courtyard tonight.' That fucker."_

 _The mage giggled. "Looks like you have a date!"_

" _Yeah," Said the archer, "A date with my bow."_

 _The archer made their way to the courtyard below the window where they first met the thief. The red haired thief was leaning cockily against the wall._

" _Hey hot lips." He said._

" _I didn't come here to flirt, Gaius, I came here to get my shit back," muttered the archer._

" _Well come get it," said the thief._

 _The archer reached for their bow but stumbled, and next thing they knew they were lying on top of the thief. Their limbs were a tangle._

" _Uh...Jason? Are you okay?" Gaius flushed bright red._

 _The archer paused. "Oh, fuck it," they said, pulling the thief into a kiss._

 **A/N**

Hey guys, Matt here. We're on summer now, but guess what that means? Video games! :D (Sorry for the wait on this update its actually been ready for a while we just never got to it. Aaaaaaaaanyways) Expect some more updates this summer! And then less from like, September on. But you all know the drill.


	7. Safer in Cages (Jason)

" _I feel like this is bad idea." said the soldier._

" _This is an_ excellent _idea." said the archer._

" _Come now,_ you're _the one who told me our own being here is going to mess up the things. Why would we mess things up even more, on purpose?"_

" _Trust me, I'm the master of the heart."_

" _We're not supposed to be being here, come, drop it and let us run like winds."_

" _Never!"_

 _The banquet was in full swing around them. Nobels were dancing to and fro, many more upper class citizens were adorning the tables, drinking and having a merry time. Mounted pegasus knights were at every entrance and exit to the hall. The two men on the roof continued their conversation._

" _Look! He's heading for the south exit, just like Miriel predicted he would! Astounding!" said the archer._

 _The soldier squinted towards the hall, "How can you even make with the seeing from this far?"_

" _Archery, my good fellow. It sharpens the eye!" said the archer. He notched an arrow with a rope tied around it, and aimed for the window. "Now, don't mess this up. We're being paid handsomely for this, after all! Sir Matthew and his group have agreed to give us free tips for singing!"_

" _I do not want to be singer…"_

" _But I do, my good sir. So get going!" The archer let the arrow fly and it stuck just above the open window to the banquet hall. The soldier gulped and started to shimmy down the rope, dangling above the courtyard. All the way he thought about how stupid of a plan this was, and how he didn't even want singing lessons. He wanted nothing really. He was a simple man. A nice evening by a fire with some friends and some booze would do, yet somehow he was roped into this. He made it to the window, took a deep breath, and jumped through._

" _Aha!" he exclaimed, in the air as he fell, causing many a head to turn and gasp. "Behold, I am the evil man! I am taking away the lord of Ylisse and-" he was cut off by the fact that he had to land. He hit the ground hard, hearing a pop as his knee took the brunt of the force. He whimpered, but didn't cry out. He didn't want to look more like an idiot than he already did. "...right. The urm… Ah! Yes! The lord of Ylisse. I am taking him. Yes." , the soldier began to hobble over to the lord who had been dancing with a lady in a grey gown. He blinked in surprise._

" _Um… Oh no!" The lord began, falling to the ground dramatically. "I have been hit with an arrow!" He cried, clutching his leg which was arrow free. Silence reverberated through the hall. Everyone stared in confusion. "Uh…", the lord tried again, louder this time. "I've been HIT. WITH. AN. ARROW." More silence. The soldier was still hobbling into his direction. Someone coughed. Suddenly, through the open window, an arrow came in and struck the lord in the thigh. He sighed in relief before letting out a pained cry. "Oh no!" He cried. "I've been hit with an arrow and cannot defend myself against even the weakest of opponents! Whatever shall I do!" He shouted._

" _A-Aha!" The soldier shouted through his pain, voice cracking slightly. "I shall now take the lord! My boss will be happy, no?" He gritted his teeth and made his way to the lord. The lord didn't move. Moments passed. Finally the soldier cried in pain as he squatted down to pick up the lord._

" _O-oh no!" Shouted the lord, repeating himself yet again. "I'm being taken away!" He said, helping the soldier up and putting his arm around his neck. The lord started to carry the soldier out of the hall, with the soldier limply saying thank you very quietly. The lord limped over to the exit. "Somebody stop him!" He shouted. No one moved. "Uh… pegasus knights! Protect your lord!" He tried. None of them moved. Finally, one with flowing red hair awkwardly stepped forward from her post. She walked across the floor, her boots echoing across the silent hall._

" _Yes perfect!" Shouted the soldier. "But you'll have to catch me OW- er, outside! Yes! For I am making the fastest of getaways.", the soldier weekly said, while being slowly carried away._

* * *

My eyes opened to the darkness of my quarters. Besides the faint light of the moon shining through the open window, I was in pitch black. I instinctively reached to my right, before remembering I didn't have a bedside lamp here. Or electricity, for that matter. I didn't have heating pads for my sore muscles and I didn't have Advil either. No internet, no air conditioning. Nothing that I was used to, except maybe an uncomfortable bed. And then there was the matter of the mark on my arm. I wanted to go home. It's not like people were unkind to me, though. Other than Saizo, Oboro, and Prince Takumi, no one was glaringly hostile to me. And yet I felt imprisoned. Ryoma commanded that I could not be allowed to leave the castle after finding out that Hana had taken me out during training. Sakura would still provide me with anything I asked for from town, but knowing that I was being confined made me feel like a captive.

I stretched and pulled off my thin blanket, rubbing my bruises and climbing out of bed. I'd gotten better at sparring, although I still wasn't really winning. Hana and Subaki were relentless in their fighting and there wasn't much I could do against the both of them. The bruises made it hard to sleep, so I had taken to waking up and watching out my window at night. My cage at least gave me a good view of the large lake outside the Hoshidan keep. The full moon reflected off the water, illuminating the clearing. The stars and the shadow of the keep would've given an amazing view if it wasn't a view from the place I was being imprisoned. I absent-mindedly started to hum to myself, it started tuneless, but started to turn into a melody.

" _Green finch and linnet bird,_

 _Nightingale, blackbird,_

 _How is it you sing?"_

This wasn't my vocal part by any means, but it felt fitting. I couldn't even reach the birds that sung below my window.

" _How can you jubilate_

 _Sitting in cages,_

 _Never taking wing?"_

I paused. There was a soprano voice echoing me in tune. No, not echoing me, singing its own song. I couldn't make out any words from this height, but I heard a tune. Something unusual seized me and I pulled on pants and pulled open the door quietly. I tiptoed down the stairs, avoiding the places I knew from previous times that Saizo and Kagero kept watch at. As long as I didn't pass the hallways leading to the room of the royal siblings, I wouldn't be spotted.

There was a small servant's exit that came out by the lake from the kitchen, so I snuck out that way, moving towards the sound of singing. As I approached the lake, I noticed a blue light bathing the little clearing. The tune of the song that I heard seemed familiar. As I walked closer, I heard the words clearly now as well.

" _You are the ocean's gray waves, destined to seek_

 _Life beyond these shores, just out of reach"_

Azura, who I had only met briefly when she exorcised me, was standing in the water, up to her calves, and dancing. As she sang, I felt a tugging on the inside of my forearm: not uncomfortable, but something like an eye twitch. I didn't give it the thought to look at, thinking it was just some effect of the cold night air making my hair stand on end. Azura turned and saw me, abruptly stopping her song. The blue light in the clearing faded almost instantly with the end of her song, as did the tug at my arm.

"Oh, don't stop just because I'm here! I heard your song and wanted to listen to it…", I said. Azura seemed unimpressed. "You see, I uh...I'm a singer myself...and a dancer? I saw you and heard you and I wanted to… oh god, this is awkward, isn't it?"

Azura looked flustered by my interruption. "Oh, do not worry, I was on my way back in when you arrived." I knew she wasn't, but I understood why she didn't want people to see her singing. If someone walked in on me singing, I would usually instantly stop and pretend as if nothing had happened.

"What song were you singing?" I asked.

She smiled. "Oh, nothing important, just a song that my mother taught me. You said you are a singer, yes?"

She was trying to deflect and change the topic. I would have none of that shit. "Yes, I am! So how did you end up in the Hoshidan palace? You mention your mother, where is she?"

Azura's face went stony. "I live as a prisoner in Hoshido. After King Garon of Nohr stole Corrin, Sumeragi, the late king of Hoshido, kidnapped me from Nohr. My mother, Queen Arete, is dead."

That hit me like a ton of bricks. "I'm sorry, Azura. I didn't know."

"Surprising: it seems my presence as a Nohrian spy is well known to all around the castle." There was anger and hurt in her eyes momentarily, but it faded. "Now tell me; what do you sing?"

I smiled and the tune I was singing earlier came into my mind. Apt, given Azura's situation.

" _Green finch and linnet bird,_

 _Nightingale, blackbird,_

 _How is it you sing?"_

 _How can you jubilate_

 _Sitting in cages,_

 _Never taking wing?"_

The song felt more natural now, as if something in Azura's song had warmed up my voice.

" _Outside the sky waits,_

 _Beckoning, beckoning,_

 _Just beyond the bars._

 _How can you remain,_

 _Staring at the rain,_

 _Maddened by the stars?"_

The stars above were truly beautiful. Without any electricity to power light pollution, the sky was dark and clear, and I could see constellation after constellation. None of them were familiar, of course: I thought I recognized a bright red light that looked like mars, but it moved slowly across the sky. A magical satellite, maybe.

" _How is it you sing,_

 _Anything?_

 _How is it you sing?"_

I smiled and bowed slightly to Azura, who applauded quietly.

"Shall we return to the palace now, Jason?" She said, her voice sounding a twitch pained. I wasn't sure if this was from my song or from her memories, but it seemed to go beyond that.

"Yes, of course," I said. We walked back towards the palace, towards the servant's entrance I had come out through, the soft grass scrunching under our feet. "I guess we are both prisoners, aren't we, Azura?" I asked, quietly.

"Yes, I suppose we both are," she said, her voice calm, not betraying any shred of emotion in the statement.

* * *

I was woken up by the sound of birds singing. A pair of robins- at least I think they were robins, all the birds in Hoshido looked like nothing from any field guide I'd seen- had made a nest by my window and woke me up every morning by singing. It was probably 6;30 or 7; leaving enough time to wash my face and hair in the basin of cold water in my room and go get something to eat from the kitchens downstairs before training. I was a little tired from being up the night before with Azura, but it wasn't something I couldn't handle. I washed my hair and tied it up and made my way downstairs, grabbing a roll filled with small sour fruits before heading out to the training yard.

Upon my arrival I was surprised to find the training yard empty. "Hana? Subaki?", I called out, "Where are you guys?". I walked to the armory. Nothing, just training weapons and scrolls laying out on the benches. Looking around, I realized there was something else. Stuck to the wall with an arrow was a note, addressed to me.

" _Jason:_

 _There was something urgent that Lady Sakura need us to do today in town. You have the day off of training: go have fun! If you would like to paint, Sakura said that Kagero recently got a large shipment of materials in- you could go ask her if you could borrow some! The kitchens are open, if you'd like to try cooking something. Also, as we know how interested you are in the history and natural world of Hoshido, we thought you might want to visit the royal library. Best of wishes,_

 _Hana and Subaki"_

By the time I finished the letter I was grinning like an idiot. "A whole day off," I said out loud. They had been so careful to make sure I felt at home and had things to do while they were gone! "I'm going to make the most of this: I'll go ask Kagero if I can use some paints and paper, set some muffins or something in to bake, paint while I wait- maybe I can go for a walk around the lake later!" I started towards the door out of the armory back to the castle. "Oh gosh, this will be great! I can get some books to read, do more research, and finally learn what birds those are outside my window! I'm going to have so much fun today-" I was cut off as a piece of shiny metal whizzed past my face and buried itself in the door frame next to my head.

"You will do no such thing, scoundrel," said a voice from behind me. I whipped around, to find myself face to face with a certain red haired ninja.

"Saizo," I hissed. "What are you doing here?"

His brow furrowed- an act which I did not think possible, considering how furrowed his brow was in disappointment at a resting state. "I have been commanded to administer your training by Lord Ryoma," he said. "Do not think that this means I care about your wellbeing, you spying scum. There are many things I could be doing right now that are more important than training you. For example, I could be guarding Lord Ryoma. Or cleaning out the toilets in the palace."

I winced. That was a good one. "Well I thank you for your service, Saizo. It is truly grueling work, keeping me from baking muffins for you and the rest of the guard."

"I would not trust your muffins, offal of Nohr. They would most certainly be poisoned, and probably very disgusting as well."

"And what might Ryoma- sorry, Lord Ryoma be doing today?" I corrected myself as another shuriken flashed past my head into the doorframe.

Saizo furrowed his brow even further. God, at this rate his forehead creases would have forehead creases. "Lord Ryoma is up to something far too important for you to know about."

"Very well," I said, sighing dramatically. "I guess scum like myself will have to learn from your amazingness, Saizo."

"Flattery and grovelling will get you nowhere, wretch."

"Thanks, I love you too," I said, walking back out towards the training yard. He followed me about 6 inches behind me, eyes boring into the back of my neck. It was kind of funny, him being shorter than me, because even in his displeasure he still had to look up at me.

I grabbed the cloth that hung over by the door and began to wrap my hands, but Saizo stopped me. "No," he said. "If you are truly committed to risking your life for Lord Ryoma, you will risk broken fingers training to protect him."  
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so I'm going to protect Lord Ryoma now?"

"No, that was merely a hypothetical assumption. If I was not being ordered to not kill you, I would kill you."

"Thanks, dear." I stepped into the small arena of packed dirt and sand and took a defensive stance: arms raised in fists, legs apart, ready to fight. "Shall we train, then? Or just insult each other?"

Saizo vaulted into the arena with me. "It is humorous that you think you would be able to put up enough of a fight against me that I would not be able to also insult you simultaneously." He charged at me, hands and feet flying in a flurry of blows, most being blocked by my arms but several kicks landing hard against my ribs. Nothing I threw at him in that exchange so much as grazed his body.

"Is that all you've got? By the way, I never asked- is the red hair natural, or did you change it's color with your sheer anger?" I charged at him, hopping side to side quickly and jabbing at his stomach, his neck, his solarplexus. He swung a punch for my face and I ducked, but his knee came up and smashed me in the jaw. I recoiled and spat out some blood.

"You are not worth my training time, you insignificant little insect." He sent a spinning kick my way, which I dodged back from and sent my own kick into his chest.

"That's such a nice compliment- insects are amazing! Did you know that _Dynastes hercules_ can carry 850 times its body weight? Or that _Blatella germanica_ can live for a week without its head?" I punched Saizo several times, but he dodged all but one, which he blocked with his arm.

"I neither know nor care about this pointless information," he said, punching towards my face. His fist collided and I fell to the ground, wincing. He nodded above me. "Go take a vulnerary and some water and then return. We shall spar until the sun sets." I frowned. It could only have been 10 am, at the latest, and it was already oppressively hot and humid. Where the night before had been nice and cool, I was drenched in sweat. I almost felt bad for Saizo under his mask and tons of clothing, as I only had a sleeveless shirt and baggy lightweight pants. Almost. I grabbed a vulnerary from the cabinet they were kept in, downed it, and felt the healing magic course through my bruised ribs, my split lip, and my battered face. I filled the now empty bottle with water and chugged it, and then headed back outside.

When I walked back into the yard, Saizo was taking off the layers of clothing on his upper body, piling them over a fencepost. His mask lay on the ground below him, his back to me. He turned and frowned. "Are you ready to lose to me again, whelp?"

I shook my head, without conviction. _Oh no,_ I thought to myself, _He's hot_. His face, marked with sweat lines from wearing the mask earlier, was the most obnoxiously beautiful face I'd seen. He ran at me and began the offense, throwing punches and elbows willy nilly. As I blocked and dodged and retaliated, I tried to fill myself with as much vitriol for him as I could. How much I hated his 'edgelord' attitude, how obnoxious and entitled he thought he was, the stupid furrowed eyebrows on his stupid gorgeous face.

"You seem to be tiring out, little rat. I can't help but wonder why Nohr would choose a spy as decidedly mediocre as you," he said, laughing dryly.

I didn't even say anything, just lobbing another punch at him. Just keep throwing punches and kicks and ignore the beautiful body that I was punching and kicking. He went to knee me in the groin and I moved away and took my chance. As his one knee swept up I kicked the other one out, and he started to fall. Turning my momentum against me, he grabbed my arms even as he spun through the air, knocking me onto my back and coming down hard on top of me. His forehead smacked into my nose and he landed on me, chest to chest, his face inches from mine. There was a moment of quiet as we looked at each other, and then he got up.

"Your training is done for today, Jason. I must go take care of important matters that actually matter. You do not matter, you are not a matter that matters," Saizo said, as he put his mask back on and pulled on his armor. He stomped away from me, his feet raising dust clouds.

"ASSHOLE!" I shouted after him, though he was probably long gone into the shadows from whence he came, or whatever. I propped myself up on my elbows, slightly flustered. "I think I'll go make some muffins now." I stood up and headed towards the kitchen, laughing to myself.

* * *

" _MwaHA!" shouted the soldier. "If only you could stop me! Look how powerless you all are as I take your lord away!" He gauged the reaction. There was none. The pegasus knight was halfway to them, still walking at a normal pace. The soldier leaned into the lord ear. "Er, you may be wishing to walk the quicker pace yes?"_

 _The lord grunted as he continued to haul the soldier out of there. "You're the one who is supposed to carry_ me _out. I'm the one with the arrow in my leg, what do you want from me?!" he said in whisper shouting. They continued to move slowly forward. "What happened to you anyways?"_

" _I fell.", the soldier said plainly._

" _Well, yeah, but what happened to your leg when you fell?"_

" _It become no good.", the soldier sighed. He looked over his shoulder. The pegasus knight was a few feet away. They were almost at the door. "She is coming closer, lord."_

" _I know that.", the lord said through gritted teeth. They reached the door and were just rounding the corner when the pegasus grabbed the lord by the collar and yanked him back. He yelped in surprise, fell on his rear, and began to be dragged away. The soldier slumped on the ground, having been dropped. He didn't bother moving. The lord was dragged back to the center of the floor and dropped there. The pegasus knight knelt down to the lord's face._

" _Milord?" she asked._

" _Um. Yes?" The lord said quietly._

" _What was that?"_

" _It was uh…" the lord swallowed hard. Then he shouted: "Oh, behold, I have been saved by my loyal knight! Oh happy day!" Silence. Finally one other lord stood up from his seat._

" _Lord Chrom!" He shouted loudly. Chrom jumped._

" _Yes lord Chadwin?" He said, looking at the lord from the ground._

" _What is this spectacle you have just done? It isn't funny if that's what you think, and your leg has been seriously wounded! Now, we traveled to feast in your honor, and look what you have done. You are the leader of a nation, and with all due respect, you fall short so far in my expectations! You have made a mockery of this sacred tradition!" He threw down his napkin in anger. "We many have traveled very far out of respect for your status and your halidom! We were told that you had selected a bride, and that is a momentous occasion, so please do not belittle us with this charade!" Silence, and then a general rise in noise as lords and nobles leaned in to murmur their agreement with Chadwin's remarks. Eventually the noise level reached a hearty volume as people complained, got up from their seats, and shouted. Amidst this, Chrom sighed and let his head rest against the cool stone. He closed his eyes and layed there for a moment, taking it all in. He had really screwed up. Then he felt water on his forehead. He opened his eyes._

 _Cordelia was still kneeling next to him, tears rolling down her face. "You… never told me this was a banquet… where you've picked… a bride…" She could hardly get the words out. "You said you wouldn't marry anyone unless the country needed you too, an-and that we would be a secret until you gave up the throne to Lissa. Why did that change?" She muttered. Chrom stared blankly until a teardrop hit his eye. He blinked._

" _N-No but that's just it!" He shouted, smiling at her. Her eyes were closed and she shook her head._

" _... I guess that is it, like you say." She got up, wiped her eyes, and confidently walked out of the hall, and up the stairs towards the lodging area._

" _No!" Chrom shouted, but she didn't hear him over the crowds. Chrom stood painfully and hobbled to the door. "Hey, Gregor, get up." The soldier groaned._

" _Yes Chrom?" He said into the floor._

" _Send off the emergency arrow." Chrom said. Gregor gave a sharp whistle, and moments later, Lissa ran up in her pajamas._

" _Did she say yes?!" She said, bounding up to Chrom, healing staff in hand._

" _I haven't asked." Chrom said sheepishly._

" _Well then get going loverboy!" Lissa pouted. She pulled the arrow out of his leg and healed it up. Chrom sprinted up the stairs. He bumped into Virion._

" _I say, milord, why ever are you in such a rush? Were my arrows not perfect for your proposal? A perfect shot, right to your leg, just as you asked." Virion bowed. "Well, not like you should be surprised, I_ am _the archest of all archers, as it were." Virion looked around. "Say, where is the lucky lady?" Rather than answer, Chrom pushed passed him, forcing him to the wall. He adjusted his collar. "A thank you will suffice next time."_

 _Chrom searched the entire upper floor for Cordelia but couldn't find her. Finally, he went to the roof. She was leaning against the railing looking at the sky._

" _... The stars are really pretty." She said, without looking at him._

" _Th-They're not as beautiful as you though!" Chrom said nervously, trying desperately to salvage what he could from his failed proposal. The plan was once they got outside, Chrom would be healed up by Lissa and would run off. Then, Cordelia would beat up Gregor, his 'captor'. Having felt that she had saved him, Chrom would then reveal that he wanted to get her alone and away from the prying eyes of the nobility so he could have the proposal that mattered to him. Then, he would lead her in and do it again, in the public setting. He merely wanted to have that private moment, and the only way to get away from the banquet would be to be forced out. But how could he explain all of that to her? She thought he didn't love her, and it devastated him._

" _I'm sorry Cordelia." He said finally, and firmly. He truly meant it. This was not how the night was supposed to go, by any means. Cordelia sniffed, and turned around. She was smiling._

" _Yes." She said simply, tears still in her eyes. Chrom looked at her confused._

" _But… how did you know that it's for you?" he asked. Cordelia gestured him to the edge._

" _I took a guess." She said. Chrom leaned over the edge. There, at the end of the courtyard where he originally planned his proposal to occur, were the flowers. He had no idea they could be seen from here, especially at night. It helped that they were on fire. Wait…_

 _The flowers were ablaze, and four figures stood around it. The people he brought the plan to to make it happen. Robin, Matthew, Jason, and Maya all stood around it, waving towards the roof. The flowers burned the words into Chrom's and Cordelia's eyes. But just for clarification, Chrom figured he should say them out loud. He reached into the back of his coat and pulled out the small box._

" _Cordelia." He said. She looked at him, crying silently, but with joy. "Will you marry me?"_

 **A/N** \- I had so much fun writing the Saizo angry banter whoops. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, there are some things in it that lay the path forward to some ~plot devices~.


	8. The Point of No Return (Matt)

"We're at the entrance to the surface." Elise said, jogging up ahead in the corridor and turning her head around the corner to see if anyone was around. I walked in the back of our group, keeping an eye behind me in case we were being followed. As far as I could make out, we were fine. We had walked a fair distance out of the marketplace, down many tunnels and hallways, the most impressive of which being massive chamber with three canals. Our footsteps echoed across the floor as we walked up to where Elise was posted. We stopped in front of her. "Before you go up," she said, "you should change into those clothes your friends bought you. They look more impressive." I looked down at myself. She was right. My shirt was torn in several places still from the fight on Grima's back. Hard to think that was earlier this day. My pants were faded in various places, with rips at the bottom from rocky pathways I'd taken with them on.

"I guess you're right. I'll do it now. Pass me the bag." I said, reaching for it out of Severa's hand. She tugged it away and stared at me. "Uh… what?"

"Nothing." she said too quickly. She reached in and handed me the clothes. "Go change." Alrighty then. I rounded the corner leaving the other's out of sight, and changed into my new clothes. They felt a little too loose, but then I found a tie at the bottom of the shirt that tightened it up a little. The pants however…

"Hey is there a belt in that bag too?" I asked. Suddenly a belt flew towards me from the corner. I put it on. Comfortable with my new clothes, I went to my pile of old clothes and pulled out my knives, my shoulder shield, and my sword. Readjusting them onto my new outfit, I put on my new trenchcoat and stepped out.

"How do I look?" I said, walking toward them with my arms out. I did one little twirl, making the ends of my trenchcoat flourish outward. I stopped in front of them and struck a pose with a winning smile. Owain clapped.

"Fantastic!" He cried. He seemed genuinely moved. Inigo just kind've shrugged.

"Hot." Severa said sarcastically. I bowed.

"Thanks. You're all too kind." I said. I turned to Elise. "Is this good enough?" She nodded and we continued on our way. The tunnel got progressively more lit up, as well as narrower the further we went down it. Finally we reached a grand wooden door. Elise ran right up and knocked on it five times, in a pattern. A pause.

"What reigns?" Asked a loud voice from the other side.

"Justice!" Elise said giddily. Immediately the door burst open and Elise was pulled into a hug by a man in red and blue armor. He had blond hair, and a very strong jawline. He reminded me of a superhero.

"Lady Elise, you have returned from the masses! Did they treat you kindly?" He asked, smiling at Elise as she hugged him back.

"They sure did!" She said, gesturing to us. The man smiled at us, then frowned. He kneeled down and whispered something into Elise's ear. She pouted. "But…" she began. The man looked pained that Elise was saddened but still shook his head. Elise pouted more. She whispered something back that made him pale. He muttered something like a plea, and that made Elise smile and laugh. She skipped over to us.

"Everyone, this is Arthur!" She beamed and put her arms out towards the man, who was getting up from kneeling. He brushed off his armor and held out his hand, back to a huge grin.

"HaHA!" He said. "It is a pleasure to meet the one who helped out Lady Elise." He stuck his hand out to me. His smile was disarming. He seemed trustworthy enough. I smiled back and shook his hand. He went down the line, shaking all our hands. Owain was the only one to fully match his vigor.

"It seems, my new friend, that we have a mutual love of goodness!" Owain said, smiling at Arthur. Arthur's grin widened.

"Why yes!" Arthur said. "My life is in dedication to servicing those in need! And, of course, Lady Elise here." He knelt down to her and kissed her hand, which made her giggle. It seemed like a father indulging his daughter's princess fantasy. Speaking of fathers, what was Elise's like? He must be in a bind if she's willing to ask a random guy to speak with him. Come to think of it, he must _really_ be in a bind. All I did was not kill a handful of thugs. Was this new world really so violent? Did life not mean anything to people here? I snapped back to attention. Elise had hopped onto Arthur's shoulders and gestured towards the doorway.

"Onwards!" She yelled.

"For justice!" Arthur said, and started to jog to the door. Thankfully the rest of us could keep up with only a brisk walk. The door led to a spiral staircase that Arthur was already halfway up. "Oh! Would you mind closing and locking that door? No one is supposed to get through there!" He said. I turned around and shut it, putting a nearby plank in place so it couldn't be opened from the outside. I followed Arthur and Elise up the stairs. Inigo joined me on the side.

"Father," he said, "do you really think this is a good idea?"

"Well, we _were_ told to find the royalty. I think it's better if we're introduced _by_ royalty rather than just showing up, don't you?" I raised an eyebrow to him.

"Well… yes, but I have a very odd feeling about this. Something feels very off here. Not with Elise or Arthur, but this castle." He gestured around himself at the grey stone. "It doesn't feel like a castle, more like an ordinary stone structure. It has no grandeur. If the royalty of Nhor really have everything like those shop owners said-"

"Shop owners?" I asked.

Inigo nodded. "The ones we bought the clothes from. They said there is nothing but ruffians on the surface, because the surface is for the rich people. Eventually, the rich left for the underground, where the royal family sent assassins to kill them and steal their riches for themselves. The people are afraid." I let that sink in. These Nohrians sounded like a nasty bunch. "Anyways, that brings me to my point. For the people that have everything, where is all the evidence? There's no art, no fancy furniture, just a stone staircase. And old stone at that." He pointed to a crumbling brick.

"Well we haven't reached the top yet." I offered. He shook his head.

"It still feels off." He said. We continued on in silence. Eventually, we reached another wooden door. Elise hopped off Arthur's shoulders and turned to us.

"Ok, so we're not at the castle yet, but it's important you come here first." She said. She turned and opened the door before we could say anything. We all exited the staircase. We were on a roof. The roof had a tower in each of its four "corners", and we had just stepped out of one of them. Being circular, the roof didn't have corners per se, but the towers were where the corners would be. Each one had a door. Looking out, one led in a direction where the sky was clear, over a giant chasm, into a more beautiful looking field. The one across from us led into a mountain. The on to our right, the last one, led down to a small fort which branched into the large circular city we had seen earlier from the field we woke up in. Looking behind us, I saw that very field. It was almost night time. The roof was lined grey, and the center of it was a tiled blue. On it were two figures, one of which was on a horse. They appeared to be dueling, but it was hard to make out.. Two more figures in dark clothes stood at the perimeter. I couldn't make out any details about any of them.

"Oh, welcome." Said a voice to my right. I turned. There was a woman in heavy armor like Kellam used to wear, only her's was pink. She had white hair and looked bored. "It's good to see you safe Lady Elise, but who are these people? You're not supposed to bring people here, it's where we keep-"

"Yapapapa!" Elise tutted quickly, reaching a hand over the woman's mouth. "Don't uh, don't talk about that yet. I brought them to talk to father! I only brought them here first because I knew everyone would be here." She looked at the woman, her eyes filled with hope. "Please don't send them away, the saved my life." The woman looked to me, then to Elise, then to Inigo, then to Elise again, then to Owain, then to Arthur, then finally to Severa.

"What?" Severa said. "She's told you everything. That's really all there is to it." I wanted to pinch her she was being so snarky. But the moment had passed, and it seemed that the woman didn't mind.

"Well if you saved milady's life, I suppose it's fine. Everyone's over there."

"Thanks Effie!" Elise said, giving the knight a quick hug. She waved her hand for us to follow and ran over to the figures on the perimeter. I gave the knight a quick nod of thanks and followed Elise slowly. As I got closer to the figures, I could make out more of their looks. The ones fighting were moving a bit too fast still, but the bystanders were easy enough to see. It was a man and a woman, both about the same height and both in dark armor. Their skin was pale. The man had a very exaggerated collar that went up to his eyes in height, and I could now make out a little gold visible through his blonde hair. The woman had very long purple hair, about halfway down her back. She's the one who first looked our direction. They had had our backs to us.

She turned around, just as Elise gave her a running hug. She laughed out loud and ruffled the little girls hair. Elise then pointed to us, and she looked. She turned very serious for a moment. She shouted something. The fighting in the middle stopped. I was almost able to make out those people, but now they were walking away. I had turned to look at them, so I now turned my attention back to the… front….

My word, those were some… uh… well you know. The woman wasn't really… lacking… a-anyways, I looked back in front of me. We were almost in earshot. I smiled and waved my hand high. Inigo, Owain, and Severa did the same to show that we meant no harm. Finally, we were at a distance to have a normal conversation.

"Hello there," said the woman. She started walking towards us. I gulped. Before I could say anything, Inigo jumped in front of me.

"Why hello yourself," he said smoothly. I mentally facepalmed myself. Inigo ran a hand through his hair. The woman smiled and put a hand at the base of her neck. "Are all the people of this country as beautiful as you? I would imagine that not possible," he said.

"Oh aren't you just a charmer?" She said in a somewhat low voice. She'd probably make a good alto. Maybe even a tenor. "I appreciate the compliments but you may wish to be more careful about how you speak to royalty. I don't really mind though…" She winked at Inigo at that last line. I slyly walked up closer to him and put a hand on his back, as he fell backwards. I pushed him back up to standing and he gave me a guilty smile. I chuckled.

"My apologies, madam," I said. I bowed at the waist. "It is a _pleasure_ to meet you." I took her hand and kissed it. She laughed.

"There, see?" she said to Inigo. "That's how you greet a royal." She put a hand under my chin and lifted my head up. "No need to grovel though, it's us who should be more happy to see you! I hear you saved my sister's life."

"We are in your debt," the man chimed in.

"Oh but where _are_ our manners," the woman chimed in. "We don't even know each other's names!" She curtsied slightly. "My name is Camilla. This is my brother Leo. We are both children of the king of Nohr." She gestured to Leo. He bowed slightly. He hadn't smiled yet. Ouch.

"I'm Ini-" realizing he didn't use his fake name, he instead decided to double over coughing. "Please give me a moment." he said. Owain chimed in.

"Very well, while he's taking a moment, I shall unveil my name! Prepare to be amazed, mystified, and all things shocked!" He struck a pose to the heavens. "I am Odin! Odin Dark! The gods themselves tremble before me, and I have slain dragons, and I am all things manly and heroic, and I-" He was cut of as Severa put a hand over his mouth and sighed.

"I'm Selena," she said. "And I'm sure that now that my friend has cleared his throat," she kicked him in the side and he stopped coughing, "he could tell you his name."

"Y-yes." Inigo said, rising from the ground. He smiled as though nothing happened. "I am _Laslow_ ," he said, emphasising his own name for his own sake. "It is our pleasure."

"And I am Matthew." I said, tucking my arm under my torso as I bowed at the waist. "We are glad we could be of service to you." I wanted to seem as servant-ly as possible. I figured if we could be taken in as servants, or even soldiers, we could watch out for this person that the voice told us about. Why we needed ties to the royal family, or who that person was, I didn't know. But you don't really question the being that warped you out of reality, now do you?

"Now that that is done." Leo said, clearing his throat. "Elise here says that she wants you to speak with our father. While I agree that perhaps he is doing questionable things as of late, I do not think it wise to let complete strangers meet with him. We thank you for your time and for saving our sister. If you wish, you may follow me and you will receive a reward in gold for your time and efforts in saving our sister and following her here." He stepped to the side and gestured for us to follow him. This sounded very final. I couldn't let it end here.

"Well, that would be nice," I admitted. My comrades nodded in agreement. "But I was wondering if perhaps we could receive a different prize." Leo's eyebrow raised.

"I'm listening." He said.

"Well, we came all this way, and it _would_ make your sister happy. Why not, as a reward, we can go and see the king." I stared steeley at him. His eyes narrowed.

"You're very insistence on the matter leads me not to trust you more." He said. "I cannot let capable fighters into a room alone with the king."

"Then take my weapons." I said, pulling out my sword and shield. "And if the amount of people are a concern, I'll go in by myself." I offered him my sheathed sword and armor shield. I won't lie, I kept the knives. I figured that if everything I heard about this guy was only half true, this could easily be trouble. The knives were hidden by my pants and my coat, so Leo couldn't see them.

"Please brother?" Elise said, tugging on his sleeve. He looked down at her.

"Elise, you realize it's dangerous?" He said, placing a hand on her shoulder and going down to her level. "We cannot be careless in this matter."

"Careless in what matter?" A voice boomed out from behind Leo and Elise. Leo rose and waved in the direction the voice came from. He stepped to the side as a taller man who looked similar to him approached. He wore well polished black armor, with purple cloth over the center, from his torso down. A gold circlet adorned his forehead, and his hair was neat and well kept. At his side was a large sword in a scabbard. As he walked up to me, I resisted the urge to just bow and admit that no matter what I did, I would never been as strong, handsome, or as commanding of respect as this guy. I had never felt so completely outclassed, not even when sparring with Chrom… who I never once had beat.

"These people saved Elise's life today." Camilla said, waving at us. "Elise wants them to speak with father. Specifically this one, Matthew." She gently pulled me forward from my already outstretched hands. I stumbled forward and dropped my weapons. "Elise seems to think that he can stop father's recent actions. Apparently her attackers were not killed. This man opted to spare them."

"Which, I personally, find careless on his part." Leo chimed in.

"B-but you shouldn't kill people when you don't have to, right?" Elise said to Leo. He nodded.

"You're right, but they may still have attacked you afterwards, or they may again at a later time. Sometimes it is a necessary evil." As Leo said this, the new man stared at me, expression unmoving as he soaked in this information. He looked behind me, towards the others.

"And them?" he said. Camilla nodded.

"His friends." she said. The new man nodded. He smiled at Elise and hugged her.

"Sister," he chided, "I know you're worried, but I already told you that I would try to talk to father about it. Please trust in me. He's more likely to listen to me anyways, wouldn't you think?" He watched as Elise grabbed at the end of her dress, twisting it in her hand and shifting around as she thought about it. Eventually she sighed.

"Alright, fine." she pouted. The man patted the top of her head. He turned to us, still smiling, but something about it had changed. It seemed more like a formality now.

"As for you all, why don't you come with me?" he said, "I would like to speak more privately with you." He began to walk away.

"Wait!" I said. He stopped and turned, eyebrow raised. "What is your name?" I said, smiling. I wanted to be as likeable as possible. The man looked at me for a moment, and then smiled back, less formal than before, but still a formality.

"Xander." He said. "Crown prince of Nhor."

* * *

We were shuffled into a straight line by the royals as we were escorted to the actual palace. The way that we were kept it made it difficult to catch too much detail, as we were essentially being herded. Then, suddenly, after one corridor, the let us walk freely as long as it was in the general direction Xander was going. We reached the base of the tower we had entered when we left the roof, and began on a bridge towards a giant stone castle in the center of the city. Looking over the railing, the entire city sprawled below us. It looked deserted, but the lights were on. I guess ruffians needed light too. I was somewhat alone. Owain found out that Leo was a mage and had been talking to him non-stop since. Leo looked irritated, but was patiently answering all of his questions. Owain pulled out his new book, pointed it to the sky, and fire shot out of it. Leo slapped it out of his hand angrily, and Owain scratched the back of his head. I guess he did have magic in his veins, considering his mother was an excellent healer.

Severa was talking with Camilla with an annoyed expression on her face. Hopefully she wasn't dumb enough to spill that we weren't from this universe, but it looked like she had it under control. Camilla seemed to be laughing at her sometimes, which made her somewhat angry before composing herself and laughing too. Looks like she had it covered.

Inigo was walking behind Xander, asking him questions about his sister, Camilla, which Xander replied to somewhat angrily at first, but then actually began laughing as he responded. Xander looked like he wanted to be all business, but I saw in the way he talked with and smiled with his youngest sister that he had a soft side to him. He wasn't _all_ doom and gloom, at least. Inigo was good at getting to people, getting close to them and getting them to like him. He was very genuine. I smiled.

"Sorry that I brought you here." said a voice behind me. I turned. There was little Elise, looking at me sadly. "I j-just wanted you to help, and now you're stuck here." she said. She obviously felt guilty.

"It's nothing. I'm always willing to help people, even when it's sometimes for the worse of me. Guess I can't help myself." I laughed. She just looked at me sadly. Then she looked determined.

"Well, then go talk to Xander." she said.

"Uh… why?" I asked.

"Because if he _is_ going to talk to father than maybe he could use some of your viewpoint." She pointed to him. "Go on!" She said, pushing me to him. I stumbled and started walking towards him awkwardly. I looked behind me. Elise gave me a thumbs up. I caught up to Xander and Inigo.

"... in fact this one time, she tried to make me a cake for my birthday. Oh I wish you could know just how _awful_ it was! It was like eating sand!" Xander's face scrunched up at the memory. Inigo laughed.

"Oh dear. Has she improved though?" he asked. Xander nodded.

"Quite so. That memory is from many years ago. She's since heavily studied the culinary arts, as have I."

"You, lord Xander?" I asked. He nodded at me, accepting my new presence in the conversation. Inigo smiled at me.

"Yes. As the crown prince, it is my duty to be the master of everything that I can be. I must be fit as possible to be the sole ruler of a nation as grand and important as Nohr. Things are somewhat bleak now, but that's why I must do more, so that when father descends the throne, I can bring about an era of prosperity." he seemed somewhat angry. I decided to try and lighten him up a bit.

"... and you plan to do that by being better at cooking food?" I asked him, smiling. He turned to me, thought about it, and then burst out laughing.

"Well I don't exactly plan to give cake to the Hoshidans. It's more that I need everyone to view me as perfect, or my title will mean nothing. I need to be a leader that the people can trust. The average people have been neglected for too long, but my father is too focused on starting war to worry about it."

"War with the Hoshidans?" Inigo asked, assuming. Xander sighed.

"Yes," he said, "We have had a feud for generations. My father wishes to destroy them, and in doing so, he's neglecting the country itself. I just hope…" He stopped and grit his teeth. "Well never mind. I just want to be a good leader."

"Well then, isn't this war essential to your rule? How will you deal with it once your father is gone?" I asked. He glared at me. Perhaps I'd gone a bit too far. But then, he looked forward with determination.

"I plan to either make total peace with the Hosidans…" he said. That sounded good. "...or completely wipe them off this earth." he finished. I gulped.

"Why is there a feud anyways?" Inigo asked.

"It happened so long ago, that we do not even remember. We believe it was over land." He said, sighing. "But the Hoshidans have caused too much strife for Nhor. We cannot stand for it much longer. We will not remain in darkness!" He stopped in front of the massive wooden door. He turned to us. The others were still behind. "My siblings feel the same, but we wish to do things differently than father has. It's not that we believe is is unfit to rule or anything, it's just that his methods can be drastic. I understand Elise's feelings, after talking with you myself. You have unique qualities for people from this land. The solution to many things for the people around here is to simply kill others, which is mostly our, the royal family's, fault. My father resorts too quickly to violence, to killing, and we lead by example. That is why I want to be perfect. No, I _must_ be. Or change won't come." He looked down as he said this, then looked up at us. "Which is why I need new people I can trust." He choked it out. Was he holding back tears? He turned back to the door as all the others finally caught up with us. "Let's go." He opened the door.

* * *

We were in a grand hall now, red carpeting all along the floor, and paintings covering almost every inch of the walls. Chandeliers hung above us, ornate glass designs on each of them. We walked through it, examining all the art, and the random suits of armor that adorned the walls. At the end was a small door, with a giant purple banner hanging above it. It had a golden insignia in the middle of it.

"What's that?" Severa said pointing to it.

"That is a banner portraying the colors and symbols of our country. Do you not recognize it?" Leo said. Severa blushed and looked away.

"I-I do, it's just that my eyesight is a bit fuzzy. I just wanted to be sure it was the same one," she said, lying through her teeth. I was proud. I don't know why I ever doubted her. Leo bought it to. He nodded.

"Well we have an eye specialist on the bottom floor. You may visit her later. If you tell her that we sent you, she should give you an examination for free." He smiled at her. She thanked him, and we kept walking. Once at the door, Xander turned around.

"Camilla, Leo, Elise, if you would…?" He gestured to a door on our right. The royal siblings nodded, and moved towards the door.

"Come along Selena!" Camilla said, pulling her by the hand. "I simply _must_ show you something."

"O-ok?" Severa said, as she was dragged away.

"Odin, I have a task for you. Come." Leo said, and walked out the door. Owain grinned wildly and ran after him. Looks like the mage had left an impression on our resident over reactor.

"Laslow, come with me!" Elise said giddily, skipping around him. "Let's have a tea party!" Inigo's resistance melted at that. He loved women. He loved tea. How could he refuse?

"Very well milady, lead the way!" He said happily. He seemed almost relieved. Together they left through the door. Elise closed it on her way out. I was still looking at the door when a hand landed on my shoulder.

"Come." Xander said. He went through the door in front of us, not the one that my friends went through. We walked through a dimly lit hallway to a set of stairs. As we descended, Xander spoke. "As I was saying before, I need people that I can trust now…" He sighed. "My previous retainers died. They protected me as I fled a battle that we were ambushed at. I have replaced one of them, as she appears to have potential, although she is a bit blood thirsty. I still need two more. The traditional number is two total, but if I wish to change the very basis the country has led by for the last few generations, I need the support. I'm not ashamed to admit it at all." He said. "But anyways, I tell you this simply because you seem trustworthy. And I want you to prove that you _are_ trustworthy. Then, I plan to let you meet father." I was so surprised, that I almost fell down the stairs. He had seemed adamantly against it just a few moments ago.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you seem like you would be a valuable member of Nohr's army. You saved my sister, and didn't kill her attackers. Elise is correct in that Nohr could use such compassion… but it also needs to be strict." We reached the bottom. He opened the wooden door in front of us into a collection of prison cells.

"What, am I being arrested?" I joked. Xander didn't respond, and kept walking forward. I gulped and followed. He grabbed a key off the wall and walked down the hallways of prisoners. Every single one looked malnourished, and their cells were all smaller than they should have been. None of them jeered as their captor walked through their hall. Half didn't even look up. They were broken… until…

"Nohrian prince!" A female voice said, from a cell all the way at the end of the hall.

"Quiet Rinkah!" shouted a voice from the other side of the hall. The woman didn't stop.

"Nohrian prince Xander!" She shouted out again. Xander didn't move or even flinch. He opened the woman's cell. She had white hair, and had a sort of ornamental mask above her face. She had lines of face paint below her eyes. She wore no shirt, but a sort of bandage covering her chest. She wore a bead necklace, one of the large ones that I had never learned the name of but had always seen on some characters from video games I used to play. That realization hit me. Used to. I missed those days. Looking down, she wore red and white pants, and had cloth sleeves from her elbows down. Xander opened her cell and commanded her to get out. She jumped him, trying to kick him, as her hands were tied. Xander merely sidestepped, and punched her in the jaw. I heard a crack and the woman cried out.

"RINKAH!" The man's voice cried again. There was a rattling of the bars on the cell behind me. I looked and saw a man with green hair, but I couldn't make out any more details because Xander called my name.

"This way." He said. He had Rinkah under one arm. She had been knocked out. He walked out a steel door, and left it open. The other side of the door had blood on it. A lot.

"No, please!" The man shouted again. The rattling continued. "Stop this! Now! I'll do anything! Don't-" That's all I heard. I couldn't take it anymore, and went through the door closing it behind me.

The room was entirely dark, the only light being through a barred window on the right wall. On the floor in the light lay Rinkah. Xander was leaning against the back wall.

"Matthew." He said, staring into my soul. "What do you think of my plan for Nohr's future?" I stood there. He kept staring at me, patiently. My smile was gone. My witty remarks had left. This was dead serious. I had only felt this fearful and oppressive air in fights for my life, up until this moment. I swallowed. There was no escape. He needed an answer, and something told me he'd be able to tell if I was lying. It didn't matter how good I was at acting. He would know.

"I think it's admirable. You sound like you really want the best for the country and are willing to sacrifice anything for it. But…" I looked down, then back up. "Your focus on your retainers and consistently saying how you need people you can trust leads me to believe two things. One, that you aren't confident in yourself. You tell yourself you will become perfect, but you believe it's out of reach. Two, you also think that no one but your siblings back you, meaning you are scared that no one will embrace the change you want to bring, and that you won't have enough people on your side to convince the masses otherwise." I hesitated before finishing, "It also, frankly, makes you seem insubordinate to your father. Perhaps you'd wish to speak of your plans more carefully." I waited. That last bit felt out of line, but I said it anyways. Xander's eyes were illuminated by the light and they were all I could see. They remained unchanged.

"You're mostly correct." He said. "I'm not sure if I can be perfect, but I'm not scared. I know that my path is right. If I fail, I will be disappointed, but I am not _afraid_ of failing. I also plan to fully support my father's rule until its end, no matter what that may entail. He may not appear so right now, but my father is a just and wise man. And, I do need people I can trust. Having observed you, I can tell there is a lot more to you and your friends than meets the eye. You may be fooling the others, but not me. You're all hiding something." I gulped. "But I'm not going to ask. You saved my sister's life, and I'm going to respect your past and not pry. However, in observing you I have been able to ascertain some things. One: You've experienced pain. Loss." Jason. Maya. Olivia. Three of the most important people of my life, died right next to me. "Two: You've fought at least one war, but I'm guessing more."

"How would you know?" I spat bitterly. He didn't even move. He was reading me like a book, and we'd only known each other for half an hour at best.

"Three: You've killed. Many, many people. And you hate it." He shifted his position. "Am I wrong?" I had been right when I first met him. Xander was more perceptive, and just overall better than I was ever going to be. I conceded.

"No. No you aren't." I sighed.

"You didn't have to confirm. In fact, I expected you to lie." He said, a small hint of respect in his voice.

"You'd know if I lied." I said. "Why would I bother?"

"Then let me ask you. Do you agree with my ideal Nohr?"

"Yes."

"Can I trust you?"

"...Yes."

"Will you follow me?" This was a lot to agree to, but I figured that this is what the voice intended to happen all along. Xander commanded such respect, it was hard to believe otherwise. Maybe the voice had a hand in all of this, even. I couldn't know. I knew precious little about this world, and it was eating me up. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Xander was my best bet, not only to figure out what was happening in this world, but to stay alive. Was there really any choice? I was told to get in with the royalty, after all.

"I will." I said.

"Prove it to me." He said. "Draw your sword." I hesitated. I looked at Rinkah on the floor. I didn't like were this was going. I drew my sword, praying that Xander wouldn't make me do what I thought he was going to..

"My sword is yours." I said, bowing slightly, a drop of sweat rolling down the side of my face..

"Good. Kill her. Prove you will follow me." There it was. The order was given. I closed my eyes. I figured I couldn't fight Xander even if his legs were broken, so that wasn't an option. I couldn't just leave after saying I'd follow him everywhere. I couldn't fake her death. She was out cold, and Xander and I both knew when someone was dead or not. Whether a stab was lethal or not. I walked forward to the center of the room. I raised my sword, preparing to stab her. She did nothing, she was still unable to move. She looked like she was sleeping. I felt like a coward. I wanted to throw up. I stood like that for several minutes.

"Matthew." Xander said. I jumped. "I said. Kill. Her." He hadn't moved once. His eyes watched me closely. I stared at him for a moment, then looked back down. Rinkah was defenseless. I'd killed armed people before, I'd fought to the _death._ And this… this was endlessly more difficult to do. And I couldn't. I couldn't justify killing someone who already couldn't do anything to the kingdom, was already captive. Harmless. Alone. Kept in a cell out of the sight of the rest of the world and left to rot. I in no way, could justify it.

"...No." I said, dropping my sword from it's position. Silence.

"... You said you would follow me. You meant it, I could tell. I'll give you another chance. Kill her."

"No." I looked down. Rinkah hadn't moved. I heard a sword being unsheathed. I looked up. Xander's sword was massive, and it crackled with dark purple lightning. It smoked purple smog and heated up the surrounding area. Most importantly it illuminated Xander's face. Stern, dead serious, he was going to kill me if I didn't kill the woman. I swallowed. I could deal with dying, I thought. Maybe that was my 'rest' for finally defeating Grima. But I couldn't. What about Inigo? He'd be left without a father again. I tried my best, but I still didn't feel like a father. I had planned to change that in this world. Inigo had become my life now. He's what kept me going, hoping for the future in a time where I could watch him grow up, and live his life peacefully for once. It was all I wanted to see. That feeling was the only thing that made me a father. Was I there for him enough to make that a reality? It didn't feel like it. I felt a tear roll down my face and wiped it away. No, I couldn't die yet. I wouldn't do that to him.

"If you do not kill her, you will die, Matthew. It's that simple. I cannot have insubordination within my ranks." I looked down at Rinkah again. I thought of the man outside, who begged for her life to be spared. He fought against the bars in a desperate attempt to help her. Who was he to her? Her friend? Her lover? Her brother? Her son? Her father? It could be any of them. I thought about if Inigo was taken away, while I sat there, useless, as he was mercilessly killed. I couldn't kill her, just as much as I couldn't die. I readied my sword… and stared Xander directly in the eyes. It took all my courage, but I said it. I shouted it.

"No! She is of no threat to us!" I said, preparing for his strike. He didn't move. We stood there for a full minute. I was ready for anything. Well, not anything. Xander studied me, my facial expression, my stance, everything. And finally, he sheathed his sword. He walked forward and stepped into the light. He was smiling, proud like. He looked like a weight had been taken off of his shoulders. He bowed to me, and then straightened up to speak.

"Thank you, Matthew. Thank you. You turned out to be everything I thought you would be. You fight for what you believe in, and you don't stray that course. You don't fight for yourself, and you humanize your enemies. Yet, you also know that at some times, you _need_ to kill others. But at any chance you get, even if it would come back to hurt you, you avoid it. Unlike..." He shifted in place for a moment. "...unlike the _other_ one I have recruited. I'll have her to kill, and you too spare. It shall work perfectly. You are exactly what the new army of Nhor will need. And…" He straightened up and put a hand on my shoulder. "You are exactly the man I needed as well. So, Matthew. Do what you said you would do. Follow me." He took his hand back, reached into a pocket of his armor, and pulled out a small jewel with the same insignia I had seen on the banner earlier. He offered it to me.

"You…" I said, shocked, realizing just what he was asking. We just met! Was it really good for him to make such a quick decision? He nodded.

"Yes. I trust you fully. Become one of my new retainers."

 **A/N: (Matt) Boy that's a lot isn't it? This chapter had been stewing in my mind for a while and was originally going to be two, but I decided to combine them. I made a few choices here that aren't really canon, such as Garon killing the rich, but just consider that your first good old canon change. I'm warning you all now I'm going to make Nohr a bit (a lot) less PG than it is in the games, and it's not really** _ **too**_ **PG in the games so… get ready for that. Lots of death, trickery, and general human scumminess. But, it won't be all that bad, I'll keep the fun in it too, and of course SINGING! Singing didn't really fit at a time like this, but the way I have it planned, there will be one in pretty much every chapter of mine from here on out, so be ready. Thanks, and love you guys!**


	9. All Alone in the Moonlight (Jason)

White light engulfed me. I was drifting through a cloud of brilliant energy, and even when I closed my eyes all I could see was white. Slowly, taking an eternity, it faded to black, and I felt warmth on my back. Opening my eyes I saw a flat grassy field in front of me and a bright blue sky above me. Something heavy was strapped to my back, and a knife lay stuck into the dirt to my left.

"Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle towards my hand?" The words came out in a dream-like way, like someone else was commanding them out of me. "Come, let me clutch thee." This moment felt like a memory, but I didn't actually recall it happening. I reached for the dagger in front of me, but my hand passed right through it. _I have thee not, and yet I see thee still_. As I stood, I noticed two prone forms lying on either side of me.

"Matt? Maya? What the fuck! What are you guys doing in my dream?" They didn't respond, or even move. Figures. I hadn't even talked to Maya in months!

"Well what do we have here. The prodigal archer, journeyed from another world, all alone." A voice came from behind me. A tall man approached me as I turned to look at him, skeletal and dusky skinned with black hair and a flowing purple robe. "Your friends have abandoned you, little archer. Succumb to the will of Grima, and prepare to die."

"Validar." The name came from my mouth effortlessly, and I didn't know from where. He raised his hand and magic purple light arced from the book he held. A bright ball of this light encompassed me, and I saw the shadowy form of a six winged dragon bite into me. My skin was burning away, and I tried to scream but found I couldn't. In my burning to death, I couldn't help but think of the situation academically. The first wave of pain was my skin burning off. Next came the most painful part as my nerves vaporized. The melting of fat and muscle, and the subsequent charring of bone, didn't hurt nearly as much. My skin was pocketed with blackened holes and I realized the liquid running down my legs was the melted remains of my abdomen. I saw Matt and Maya's faces in front of me, and the face of an orange haired man who bore a strange resemblance to Saizo. Validar chuckled. I screamed.

Upon waking my body was drenched in a cold sweat. Bedsheets were tangled in my arms and legs and I could barely breathe- it felt like someone was clutching my throat. The nightmare I was having was already fading away and I couldn't keep anything in my mind except the faces. _Matt?_ What was he doing in my dreams. Sure he was my friend, but it wasn't like he'd been at the front of my mind in the last month or so. That was filled with Hana, Subaki, Sakura, and my other teachers. And Ryoma, when he deigned to talk to me. I would see Mikoto floating around the castle at times, accepting my gifts of baked goods, but she never had time to stop and talk. Her retainers didn't quite like me, that much was for sure.

And then there was Maya. We had had a falling out a while ago- we didn't dislike each other, our personalities just didn't fit well anymore. So what was she doing in my dream. But then there was the third figure. Validar? He was a video game boss, as far as I could tell. From Fire Emblem- one of the games on my DS back wherever home was. And I definitely wasn't an archer- I hadn't shot a bow since nature camp in fourth grade!

I could still feel the phantom pain of my skin on fire as I untangled myself from the sweaty sheets and walked towards the window. It was open- no wonder the room was so cold. From what I could see of the moon outside, it was early morning- 3 or 4 o'clock. Too late to go back to sleep, too early to go down and start getting ready for the day's training. I fumbled around for some matches in the shelf by my bed and, after some struggle, lit a lantern. Reaching into the pile of stuff that was all I had with me, I pulled out the scroll that I still kept with me. I tried opening it, but was met with only queasiness and vertigo as my brain tried to comprehend what was written. The words on the page leapt to life, characters moving in quasi-random patterns like snakes or tentacles. I tried to center myself, like Orochi was teaching me to. _Just let it move,_ she had said, _don't try and make something out of it_. That was easier said than done. The lines bounced through my brain, bruising themselves against the part of my memory that held my earlier possession, and digging into the strange violent memories I couldn't get rid of.

Every now and then an image would pop into my head. A young man, red haired like Saizo, twirling a lollipop. His face was half remembered, like someone I'd seen in a TV show or video game but more real. I'd see faces I knew were important but couldn't decide why, but the faces kept appearing anyways- screaming faces, anguished faces. And then, even rarer, I'd see something worse. The big doll's face that looked just like the one burned into my arm, just above the wrist. I'd kept it covered with hand wraps during practice, and it was scar-colored so it didn't attract attention when exposed, but it was worrying. The face never said anything in my dreams- in fact, it was almost like all sound was muffled. But it watched me, and I knew that it could see me when I was sleeping- maybe when I was awake too, but if he was watching then I was at least blissfully unaware in my waking hours.

I squeezed my eyes shut and closed the scroll. I wasn't in a stable enough mindset to process this magic bullshit right now. _Of course,_ the voice in my head told me, _you weren't exactly controlling your emotions well when you last processed it_. My attack on the throne room was still a matter of contentious debate. Much of the castle wanted me dead and gone, but Mikoto and Sakura's voices were unignorable. It astounded me that they stood by my side- I had tried to kill them (however misguided at the time) and was probably nothing more than a sleeper agent. And yet they trusted me, and so then did others. Sakura's retainers, my primary teachers, were the people who most were by my side, and Hana most of all. If I couldn't cast spells, it had been decided I'd learn to become a samurai like her, or at least a foot soldier of some use. As much as I longed to ride the beautiful pegasi I saw Subaki and the other pegasus knights riding, I was not allowed to. It was too expensive of an asset to give to a potential traitor, regardless of whether the queen had put her trust in them. And so I was stuck with Hana.

Sheets of paper lay on the desk in the corner of my room. Simple charcoal drawings of all the people I had trained with so far. There was Sakura's face, all soft lines and dainty curves. Saizo, taken from memory of the time he had removed his mask, was stern and chiseled. Hana's round face was thick lined and looked like she had tasted something bitter- I was proud to have captured that particular expression of hers. The most prevalent picture wasn't someone I had trained under though- at least, not as far as I knew. It was the same red-haired man I kept seeing in my mind, accompanied by a princely figure who had a dark blue hair in my mind's eye. Another prevalent figure- a blonde and pigtailed girl, no older than I had been back home.

The question of who these figures were, and why they kept popping up in my mind, filled my thoughts for the next few hours until sunrise, as they had many early mornings before.

The day of training began like most others. I was with Hana again; after a breakfast of rice and eggs we got dressed to spar, wiping down yesterday's bamboo training swords. Few words were exchanged, because there wasn't much to talk about. Not much had changed since we had seen each other yesterday. When Hana asked how I had slept I shrugged and shook my head- I didn't want to worry her or, more importantly, Lady Sakura, with the news that I had been troubled by nightmares. And so we followed the typical routine. We broke for lunch, eating cold noodles. Hana showed me the new strap she had made for her katana, and assured me it would only be a few weeks until I received my own _real_ blade. According to her I was making rapid progress in my training- picking up techniques, grasping strategy, and starting to last longer in sparring much better than any other new recruits she'd worked with.

The routine after lunch moved into something more like a workout: stretches, strengthening exercises, and a seemingly endless routine of running laps around the courtyard. We were informed by a messenger that we would have to cut our afternoon training short- Ryoma was holding a meeting over dinner and wanted all the royal retainers and trainees to join in. Sakura had insisted that I sit in for the meeting. I thanked Hana for the help training, and headed back to my room to clean myself off and get ready to deal with 3 hours of Takumi staring at me aggressively. I put on the only nice clothes I had been given: a soft red tunic and baggy black pants. I didn't like how much of my chest the tunic showed and I fiddled with it, to no avail. No matter how I folded it, the collar always plunged like a deep v-neck. I put on the little gold necklace that Sakura had given me to try and cover up my throat and collar a little bit, at least. The necklace had a little charm shaped like a dove at the end, with red painted eyes and white wings. _The Hoshidans love their red_ , I thought to myself, and laughed dryly.

"Hey, Jason, you done in there? Lord Ryoma wants us down at the meeting in 10 or so minutes, you know." Subaki's voice came from the other side of my closed door. His room in the barracks was quite far away, so the gesture to come out of his way and take me to the meeting didn't go unnoticed. Although, as often with Subaki, his motivation was unclear. Did he simply want to show up bringing the rookie in so he could look like a perfect teacher?

"One second, I'll be right out!," I said, rapidly tying up my hair. I hesitated, and grabbed the bag that hung by my bed. It had a little writing scroll, in case I needed to keep track of something from whatever debriefing Ryoma had to do, as well as my steel knife. _And the spell scroll,_ I thought, _though fat lot of good that would do if something went south_. I hurried out the door and found Subaki waiting, looking as if he weren't so perfectly serene, he'd be annoyed by my tardiness. He was as beautiful as ever, his perfect clothes perfect draped over his body, his perfect hair arranged in perfect tresses, and his face set in a perfect smile. I resented how effortless he made everything look, even if he was my friend and my teacher. It didn't seem like I was the only one to resent him, either. Hana was often critical of him in training, and there was one other resident in the Hoshidan castle- a foreigner from the Fire Tribe, Rinkah- who had some longstanding feud with the pegasus knight. And yet, like a _perfect_ gentleman (or watchdog), Subaki escorted me to the grand hall where Ryoma was to brief the residents of the castle on the current affairs of the nation.

I was directed to sit by Lady Sakura, between her and Subaki, with Hana on her other side. She and Hana were in deep conversation, but as I sat down Sakura turned to me and smiled warmly. "H-hello Jason! Hana and Subaki have told me that your t-training has been going very well, which I am glad to hear. I-I'm glad you could make it to this meeting. I mean I know th-that Ryoma w-wasn't really going to...to give you a choice but I'm g-glad your h-here." She flushed, as she always did when she was preoccupied with her siblings. Something about being a royal stressed Sakura out intensely.

"It's an honor to be trusted here, milady," I said, trying to lift her spirits as best as I could.

"Silence, all of you gathered here!" Ryoma's booming voice echoed across the grand hall. Next to him, sitting demurely as if she didn't have the most powerful army on the continent in her control, was Queen Mikoto. Her serene gaze seemed slightly off, and I wondered what could be the topic of this meeting that would be distressing her. I had never seen her 'break character' from her calm and graceful self.

"Some you may have heard the rumours," continued the eldest prince, towering over the meeting hall like a god. "And alas I have to confirm them. Two of Hoshido's greatest warriors, Rinkah of the Flame Tribe and Kaze, have been kidnapped and possibly killed by Nohrian forces on our border with Nohr." The entire hall went quiet. Saizo, seated by Ryoma, seemed to break his stern facade for a brief moment. I remembered that Kaze and Saizo, although having a rocky relationship, were brothers. Although out of place at the time, I wondered how my older brother was faring- or my family in general. I'd been missing for a month- surely they were looking for me? Regardless, I could understand Saizo's pain.

"How could this happen, brother?" Takumi stood up sharply. "Were they not within our mother's barrier?"

Ryoma shook his head sadly. "They must've left the barrier while scouting."

"Or the barrier has been weakened!", shouted the younger prince, "Perhaps by a traitor in our own ranks." His gaze turned to me, as did the gaze of several other present soldiers. Oboro mimed slitting my throat.

"Silence, Takumi! What matters now is not the placing of blame." Ryoma turned to Queen Mikoto. "Mother, there is no way that your barrier could be weakened like this, is there?"

She shook her head. "No, except for upon my death. I am afraid that Rinkah and Kaze were taken from outside of it." Takumi looked like he was going to speak up again, but he sat down instead and kept his mouth shut.

"As I said, what matters now is discussing what will come in the future," said Ryoma, "This is an aggressive act of war on the Nohrian's part. This will not stand- Hoshido will not be conquered by Garon. What comes next is the mobilization of our forces. We will station a guard at the border with Nohr by Bottomless Canyon. The force will be led by captain Omozu." A ninja towards the rear of the room nodded sharply. "Sakura, Hinoka, you shall accompany him with your own retainers, and then move to defend the north from faceless invaders. Takumi, you must take your retainers to defend the area south of here from faceless as well. The rest of our forces will protect Castle Hoshido- no Nohrian infiltrator will endanger Queen Mikoto's life." The room was still. Ryoma furrowed his brow and said, "What are you waiting for? Defend your nation!"

The room stirred with motion. I was swept up as groups of soldiers moved out from the room, only Sakura staying by me. As the room emptied out, she turned to Ryoma. "B-brother. I r-request the p-p-permission to take Jason w-with me to Bottomless Canyon."

Takumi laughed a dry life. "Sister, you are acting foolish. You cannot take a spy with you on an important mission."

Hinoka turned to Sakura. I had rarely interacted with her- she was always off training- but she was indifferent to my presence, as far as I knew. "Sakura, Takumi is right. You may feel attached to this soldier, but you can't take the risk." My favorite thing was when the royal siblings talked about me like I wasn't there.

"Hinoka, Takumi, normally I'd agree with you," said Ryoma.

Takumi nodded. "See, I told you-"

"I am not finished, Takumi," interrupted Ryoma. Takumi shrank back. "This is not a normal situation, Sakura. You have spent the most time with this Jason, so I trust your judgement." He turned to me. "And Jason. Do not think that I will not be watching you. This is a test of your ability, and of your loyalty. I will not hesitate to strike you down." I gulped. I was tall, but Ryoma towered above even me- his mask and hair framed his face like a cruel sun.

"U-understood, my lord." I murmured out.

"Very well!," he said, smiling. "Sakura, get moving- I want the troops mobilized tomorrow morning."

"Y-yes brother!" She said, grinning sweetly at me. She took my arm and led me out of the chamber.

"Thank you for standing up for me, Sakura," I said.

"No problem, J-jason. I know you have g-good intentions, and we can use all the help we can get."

I ate a simple dinner and went to bed early that night. My sleep was troubled with images of that doll's face, and the sensation of many eyes watching me, but I tried my best to shrug them off and prepare myself for tomorrow.

 **Author's Note:** A little crossover from the late 'Song to Slay a Dragon'. First chapter of 2017- hope you guys enjoy! Sorry for our lack of any regular writing schedule, but you know how it is- big chunks of fic just sitting…unfinished...for a long time. There should be a few chapters now though, at least! Thanks for reading :3


	10. A Picture Paints a Thousand Words (Matt)

I held onto the jewel I had just received from Xander, twisting it around and observing it from every angle that I could. The look on my face must have been priceless, because Xander actually started to chuckle.

"Yes, it's a shiny jewel. Most don't stare at is as though they're trying to drill a hole in it with their eyes, however." I lifted my eyes and smirked.

"Most know they're going to receive it in the first place." I retorted. Before Xander could respond, we heard a moan coming from the floor. Rinkah was slowly rising into a sitting position. I hadn't noticed earlier but her jaw was dislocated from Xander's punch. She took a moment to annalyse the scene before she hopped to her feet, hands still bound, and stared us down, the lower half of her body in a fighting stance.

"Nurium Sum!" She shouted. I assumed she wanted to say 'Nohrian Scum', but her jaw was fighting her. Xander sighed and walked up to her. Rinkah brought up her leg and sent a kick right at his face. Xander didn't even blink. He batted it away like it was a pesky bug, closed the distance and grabbed her by the jaw. With one wrist flick, he corrected it's position. Rinkah cried out before realizing what he'd done. She blinked. She sighed and looked to the side.

"... I'm not thanking you." She said.

"I never expected you too. I'd be shocked if you did. I'm the one who dislocated it in the first place." Xander replied. He turned back towards me as Rinkah literally growled at him, teeth bared and everything. She kicked the back of his knee full force. His leg didn't even budge.

"W-What…" She stared before Xander, hand slowly running down his face looked at her.

"You've been bound in a prison for three weeks on hardly any sustenance. Fighting me is truly foolhardy. I highly suggest you cease." He said, almost legit concerned. Almost. Rinkah scowled, turned to me, and scowled again.

"What are you looking at? You look like you're pitying me, but I know that's a lie. Nohrians have no compassion at all." Ooooooooooh the irony. I actually got a dumb smile on my face at her comment. She got pissed.

"What the hell are you smiling about? You're a pretty twisted guy if you like seeing me like this. Beaten down, bound, kept in a prison. Can't you see this is inhumane?!" She was right, it was an honestly horrid scenario.

"Yeah, I can see it." I said, finally putting the jewel away in one of my pockets. "That's why I opted to save your life." I expected a shocked expression from Rinkah, but she just shook her head.

"No Nohrians spare. They don't even know how."

"I'm not Nohrian." I countered. Rinkah squinted at me.

"You don't look Hoshidan…" She said. I just shook my head.

"Uh… I'm not." I said again. I had done it. She was thoroughly perplexed. Xander took this as the time to move things along, and he pushed Rinkah towards the door.

"You can thank him later, but for now, it's back to the cell." She didn't need any more orders. Opening the door and walking out in front of her so she couldn't make a break for it, I watched as she was placed back in her cell.

"Rinkah!" I heard a relieved cry. I looked over. It was the same green haired man that was crying earlier. He was pretty much in rags but it was obvious he once wore armor over it. He was about my height, perhaps a little taller, and he was solidly built, much more so than anyone else in the prison. I could imagine he was saving his strength for when he would need it, rather than act like his friend Rinkah and use it all up in the flip of a coin. He seemed disciplined, regal almost.

"I'm fine Kaze." Rinkah said in a tone that made it clear she was ready to break some skulls if given the chance. She stepped inside her cell and Xander locked it behind her. "They just wanted to rough me up a bit. I'm fine."

"That's not even what happened!" I protested. It felt almost unfair. A few minutes ago I was pretty sure I was going to die for this girl that I just met, and she was imprisoned for one reason or another. That meant she was a criminal right? It felt incredibly irritating to be looked down on by criminals. I just sighed and left them to discuss. They whispered across the hall to each other as Xander and I went back the way we came.

"I imagine your companions are wondering where you are about now. Or my siblings aren't finished with them, which is possible. Although I must ask you one thing." He stopped at the end of the prison hall.

"Fire away." I said, tiredly. I didn't want to it's just… it was a really long day.

"Your son." He said. I snapped to attention. "Why is he as old as you?" He didn't seem like he was trying to get at me or under my skin like his questioning before, he just seemed genuinely curious about it.

"... I'm older than I look." I said dryly. No I wasn't. Unfortunately, it was my best excuse.

Xander merely shrugged, "I guess you are." We continued up the staircase we had come down. I sighed. Luckily, no one had asked me how much older I was yet, because that answer… would be complicated, to say the least.

"So I noticed your siblings took away one of my friends each when we got here. I assumed you just wanted them away at first, but now that all this has happened," I pulled out my new jewel and flashed it in front of him. "...Got something planned?" I eyed him curiously. He met my gaze before he chuckled.

"You're observant. Good! And, it is just as you imagine. They're being tested. Although, Elise has no need for new retainers. That meeting with your son was purely to get you alone." He was silent for a moment before noticing how ominous that sounded. "Sorry, that was… creepier than I had meant it to be."  
"I get what you mean." I reassured. He nodded and we continued on our way. "So does this mean Laslow isn't in anyone's interest as a possible retainer?" I felt bad. It was almost like he'd be missing out on the fun. Plus, if he didn't become a retainer, it might be hard for him to stay in the castle in order for us to protect… whoever. I would need to ask Xander about who that person could be later.

"No, he displayed many similar qualities that you have in our brief conversation. No surprise, since he is your son after all." Xander's brow furrowed. "Though, honestly, while he displays a cunning joy and wit about him, I somehow get the feeling he has seen more trouble than you have…" He wasn't wrong. I may have fought three wars and seen my good friends die in front of me, but I hadn't seen the entire world destroyed and had my parents killed in front of me. Inigo won't talk to me much about that time. He's opened up slowly, but it's taken a lot of effort on both sides.

"Regardless." Xander continued, "I have my own eyes on his cooperation if we are to be honest. Do not divulge this to him." I nodded.

"Are you going to make him go through the same thing?" Xander shook his head.

"No. I have a much different trial in mind. Yours was specific to you. Your fellow retainer also had her own unique experience. I change them, based on what I want to see and know about who you are." That made sense, but now I had a new question.

"You've mentioned this girl several times now. I must know, since I'll be working with her, what is she like?" We were back in the main hall now. There were servants and maids spread about, doing various chores. I hadn't fully appreciated this hall on the way in, as we were being escorted by royalty, but now I saw just how extravagant it was. Art was bursting from every corner. Portraits of previous rulers, paintings of famous battlefields, chandeliers coming down from the ceiling. The rugs were stainless, the walls were polished stone. _This must be where all the corrupt money went_ I thought. Looks like Inigo was right. _But if it's all here, than what was that previous building from before? Where we first met the royals? Why would they all gather in a shabby little fort like that?_ I was brought out of my thoughts by a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you listening, Matthew?" Xander said. I jumped a little.

"I'm sorry, I was simply blown away by this hall. I know we passed it before but now I can really see it in all it's glory." I said. It was the simple truth. Xander closed his eyes and nodded.

"Yes I agree, it is splendid. Anyways, you asked about the other retainer." He turned me by the shoulders sand pointed me towards a lone figure, looking at one particularly gruesome painting. "Why don't you go and introduce yourself?" I didn't like the way he smiled when he said that.

* * *

As I walked forward to the girl, a few things caught my attention. For a start, the painting she was looking at. It was a battle scene with two sides meeting in the center, where there were already a small pile of horribly brutalized bodies. One side held the Nohrian emblem on a banner, but the other was one I didn't recognize. Their weapons and armor were completely different. The second thing that caught my attention was the woman's hair. It was blue and worn straight back, and then at the end it was pink for the last couple centimeters. She was well built and wearing a simple blue nightgown. The next thing that I noticed was the blade strapped to her side. Maybe she was paranoid. Maybe it was justified. I hadn't been here long enough to tell. She turned to me when I approached. Her left eye was red. Her right eye was green. She seemed to look right through me before slowly turning back to the painting. I paused, and started walking again. Guess she wouldn't be the first to talk.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you-" I started, but she cut me off, gesturing to the painting.

"Don't you think this is unrealistic?" She said. I examined the painting. She seemed to be pointing to one soldier with his insides spilling to the earth. His throat was slit and his eyes gazed ever forward, straight towards the observer. It was incredibly unnerving.

"No unfortunately, I don't." I said sighing. I'd seen as much for myself. It's terrible watching someone die so grotesque a death in front of you. It's worse when it's your fault.

"Well it is." She continued. She pointed to the attacker, the one pulling his sword from the dead man. "With a cut like that from a broadsword, there would be a lot more blood and guts, don't you think? That's hardly anything." I was at a loss for words. Hardly anything? That was almost his entire inner workings! You could practically see his heart, and his organs were spilling everywhere. I was so taken aback I never even responded. I jolted to attention as I felt her touch my shoulder. It felt like a knife was jabbing into me. I jumped back, hand instinctively reaching for a weapon before chiding myself that she was my co-worker. I shook my head to clear it.

"Sorry, you were…" She held the knife that was at her side in her hand. It was red. "...saying." I looked down at my shoulder. My new coat was ripped, a fine small cut, barely deep enough to draw blood, but deep enough anyways. I swallowed hard.

"You're blood is a very interesting color. It's so…" She looked at the edge of her blade with wide eyed wonder. She looked back up at me and walked closer. I fought every urge to run. I needed to meet the person I'd be working with. I was just about at the end of my rope though. Soon she was right up next to me. She ran a hand along my cut. I tried not to wince. "It's such a royal red, you know?" She said, mystified by the cut. I couldn't take it. I put a hand over my cut shoulder and stared her down.

"Yeah, I think that's enough there." I said. She seemed to snap out of a trance. Before I could continue, she looked me dead in the eyes and smiled happily.

"Of course, sorry, I do that to the interesting people I meet. You can tell a lot about someone through blood don't you think?" No, I didn't think so at all. "But anyways I'm Peri! It's _soooo_ nice to meet you! Most people stay away from me so it's nice to talk to someone. But really, come look at this art." She slid her arm through mine and yanked me close, facing the painting. I had fought a dragon before, and I thought it was the most terrifying thing that could occur. I was so wrong. "Even if it's unrealistic don't you think it's cool?" She looked at me with a wide eyed innocence that I could not comprehend.

"It's got a bit too much death for my tastes." I said. She recoiled a little.

"Too much? I don't think there's enough…" She pouted. I… what? Half the painting was mass murder! I couldn't really take it anymore. I looked back at Xander. He was talking to a servant, but he looked over and just smiled, gesturing for me to stay. I gulped and looked back at the painting, trying to ignore the fact there was a psychopath on my side.

"So uh, anyways." I started. "I heard you are one of Xander's retainers. I thought that I should come by and introduce myself. I'm Matthew." I plucked the jewel from my pocket and showed it to her. "I'll be working with you it seems."

"No way!" She yelled, throwing her hands into the air and then hugging me tightly. I felt my spine crack. I hadn't realized it was so stiff. She laughed and punched my arm. "That's so exciting! We get to kill bad guys together!" She seemed so happy.

"I try to avoid that actually." I said, nervously laughing and scratching the back of my head.

"You mean you haven't killed anyone?!" She said, perplexed. She was probably wondering why I was a retainer then. "But… but it's so fun!" That was not the response I was expecting.

"I have killed people." I said quietly. "I just don't enjoy it, so when given the chance I avoid it." I couldn't believe I actually had to explain why I didn't want to kill people. It takes a special someone to be that bloodthirsty. Someone I hoped never to meet again- not after meeting Tharja and her daughter- and yet here I was.

"Hmmmmm…" she bit her lip. "Well I don't get it, but that's alright. I'm just excited that I have an excuse to kill people now!" She laughed. She actually laughed. This was too much for me.

"Yes, well." I said, taking a step back. "I'm going to find my friends and go to bed. It's been a long day for me."

"Do you...want to talk about it?" _No, not with you, sorry,_ I thought.

"No, I'm good thanks. Good night." I turned my back, ready for her to plunge her knife into it, but she never did. I made my way back to Xander. He finished his conversation as I got back to him. He turned to me, looked at my shoulder, and burst out laughing.

"I was wondering if she would do it to you too." He said. "Don't worry about it, I'll get a servant to patch your coat up for you." He patted me on the shoulder and sighed. "I'm sure you're tired," he said. "Your companions should be in one of the bed chambers in the north west section of the castle. In other words, that way." He pointed up the stairs. "Once up those steps go left and continue straight ahead. After two more corridors, there will be a staircase and a door. The door should be the entrance to your room. I just arranged it with the servants. Four beds, two desks, two wardrobes. That is the best I can do for the night."

"That should be plenty." I said. "Thank you very much, my lord." I was already getting used to this position. I never held an important role in the shepherds. Granted, I usually tried to avoid them, but still. As I walked through the halls on the way to my room I reflected on Peri. Somehow, I figured we'd end up getting along, despite our differences. She didn't seem like a terrible person, knife to the shoulder aside. She just had unhealthy habits. Maybe I could help even! Get her addicted to singing, instead of murder. It worked with Gerome.

I opened the door to the room and was greeted by no one. None of them were back yet. I set my pack down on the side of the bed closest to the door and laid down. I stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath. I rolled up my sleeve and looked at the headband tied around my wrist.

"Hey Olivia." I said. I did this every now and again- it kept me sane. Or maybe it proved I was insane. I didn't know. "It's me. Looks like I've still got a job to do. It's too bad, I was looking forward to returning to Regna Ferox and building that theater you wanted to make. I guess I'll have to put it on hold for now." I sighed and sat up. "Listen I… I can't promise I'll ever be back to build it. I promised myself I'd go home… you know, like, actually home, and you can see how well that turned out. I'm even further away. So, I can't promise that I'll find a way to return but I'll try my hardest. I'll bet it's possible. Inigo is doing alright, but I feel distant from him. I've said before but you would love him. He has your smile." I felt myself tear up and blinked a little bit. "I know maybe I'm being selfish but I'm not going to let him die on me so you're going to have to wait to see him for yourself. ...I miss you." I removed my jacket and shirt and laid under the covers. "I hope you can hear me. I know it's unlikely but a guy can hope right? I bet you're bored." I smiled. "Would this help?"

 _Say you'll share with me one love one lifetime_

 _Let me lead you from your solitude_

 _Say you need me with you, here beside you_

 _Anywhere you go, let me go too._

I trailed off there. I felt a couple tears roll down my face."I know that's what I told you all those years ago and now more than ever I wish I could follow through on that. But I can't. It's killing me, you know? I know one day I'll… you know, die… I'm sorry that I can't bring you here until then though." I turned to my side and stared at the wall. "... Goodnight Olivia. I just want to see you again."

 _That's all I ask of you._

 **A/N: So we're back into the swing of things and we have a lot of great ideas (how many times have you heard that one eh?) But anyways real talk we're doing good with this. Lots of stuff getting down just a lot of it not in order. Also a reminder that our chapters (Jason's and mine) Are NOT happening at the same time. While theirs is taking place over a couple months, mine has all been the same day. Just in case you were confused. Anyways I had fun writing this. Does Peri seem too weird? Idk something about this chapter seems odd to me but I'm comfortable enough with it to get it out there. Expect a new chapter soon.**


	11. I'm Already Dead (Jason)

Subaki handed me a red bean bun, smiling serenely. I bit into the soft dough, its thin skin giving way and the sweet bean filling spreading into my mouth. It was delicious, and took my mind off the walking for just a little bit. A chill wind blew a stray strand from my braid across my face, and I pulled my baggy sleeves a little tighter around my body. Breathing was getting a little more labored the higher we climbed towards the canyon that plunged through the mountains on the Nohr-Hoshido border. Subaki led his pegasus behind us, and Hana and Sakura huddled together to keep warm. Hinoka and her retainers, as well as Omozu and his soldiers, were spread out in the woods and hills around us- no large groups could be afforded, lest big groups of Faceless take notice of our force and attack us. So it was just me, Subaki, Hana, Sakura, and two other soldiers who hadn't seemed to want to share much personal information.

"Hold on!," said Hana, breaking the silence. We rarely spoke at this point in our tedious march, so Hana's speaking held meaning. I heard nothing for a few beats, and then suddenly a slight shuffling noise from our right. "Milady get back!", shouted Hana, pushing Sakura away from her and into the middle of our little group. The woods were silent, again, for a brief moment, and then we heard it.

Faceless don't make a sound, per se. Not that one would expect- no real anguished screaming or roaring, no moans, just a constant hissing and tearing, like gas being expelled from a pressurized container. And that hissing was the sound around us now- like ghosts six Faceless seemed to appear from thin air, lumbering out of the woods. They were enormous, and it was surprising that they could hide so well. Reeking green muscular bodies towered above us, and their giant metal masks stared passively. There was a moment of calm as we were surrounded by the hissing figures, and then one raised a giant fist and plunged it down, batting one of our soldier retinue out of the way like he was a toy.

"Circle the princess! Don't let her get hurt!", shouted Subaki, leaping up onto his pegasus and taking to the air, narrowly avoiding a groping swipe from a Faceless' fist. Hana and I pulled out our katanas and stepped to either side of Sakura. Our third samurai drew his sword and took position, though he seemed to be quite shaken. Hana wasn't going to hesitate- she leapt forward at the nearest hulk and swung her sword sharply upward, cutting through layers of muscle with a clean _shnk_ sound. It swept a fist down at her, but she sidestepped it. As she moved back to defend Sakura, I took my turn. I slashed into the thigh of another Faceless, trying my best to slash down to the join and weaken it, but my sword hitched in its kneecap as I tried to pull free. My sword came out, but not fast enough, and a chained hand slammed into my chest.

I skidded through the fallen pine needles on the ground, sending up a cloud of dry needles. I was quickly back up on my feet, in time to see Subaki fly down at the Faceless that had just knocked me flat, and his naginata flashed across its neck. The Faceless toppled forward, nearly landing on Sakura, its caged head rolling to me.

"Jason, get back to Sakura!", shouted Subaki, making another pass at a Faceless, narrowly avoiding being yanked from his mount. Hana stabbed her sword into the gut of one of the monsters, but they kept closing in, surrounding us. Sakura bathed me in a healing glow as I took off a Faceless' hand, but then it just drove its stump down at our retinue. He had made a few short cuts in some Faceless, but was being overwhelmed by two, and this took him to the ground.

"Subaki, find my sister!", called Sakura, "we need backup!" Hana intercepted a blow coming towards Sakura with her sword, but staggered back. I took advantage of the opening to slash at the beast's belly, though, and Hana deftly decapitated it with a broad sweep. As her blade cleft through the neck of the one faceless, she flourished, cutting into all the surrounding ones like a deadly blooming flower.

Sakura was trying her best to keep up with healing us, but her strength was flagging. She had taken a few glancing blow but was quite shaken up. I could feel my own blood pooling and bruising all across my chest and stomach, and I must've broken a few ribs. "Hana, we can't keep this up all day," I said, grunting as another fist slammed down at me. My wrist shook as I parried the blow, but I managed to take out the owner of that fist with a series of cuts.

I turned to see Hana do the same- only 3 Faceless remained. "We will not let Lady Sakura down."

Perhaps sensing my distraction by Hana, a Faceless swung a bleeding hand and my side and I slammed into the ground, hard. My vision went starry, and I saw its other hand coming down fast to crush me into the dirt. "So this is the end, huh", I said, spitting out a glob of blood. The fist didn't finish coming down, though. Suddenly I was somewhere else, held upright by someone. My stomach turned, and I looked up. A cheerful man, with wild hair and a calm smile, held me up with one arm. In his other he clutched a staff that I recognized- a rescue staff, able to transport an injured soldier to its bearer. Beside him stood a daze faced archer with blue hair, who absentmindedly drew her bowstring and fire and arrow.

My eyes followed the arrow's trajectory and I saw it pierce the neck of a hulking Faceless, which toppled. Behind it I saw Hana, crouching over Sakura's body. Sakura was injured, though still conscious, and radiated a healing glow around the two of them as Hana raised her sword against one of the two Faceless still standing. But two white shapes, capped with red, appeared in the top of my field of view. One with short red hair, the other's hair waving wildly like a bloody streak. _Cordelia?_ , I thought, though I wasn't sure why I thought that. The two mounted figures- Hinoka and Subaki- passed their naginatas effortlessly through the two Faceless closing in on Hana and Sakura, and just like that, the skirmish was done.

"Lady Sakura, are you alright?", Subaki said, vaulting off of his pegasus and running right up to her.

"Y-yes, Subaki, I-I'll be fine," she said, wiping her brow with her wrist.

"Sakura, please drink this." Hana held out a vulnerary to Sakura, who shook her head softly.

"Don't worry, Hana, I'll be fine. You need that more than me!" Sakura turned to Hinoka. "Thank you f-for getting here, sister. Without you I...I'm not sure w-what we would've done." She looked like she was about to cry, but she bit her lip and straightened up. "We need to move o-onwards to Bottomless Canyon, right away!", said Sakura, before she slackened against Hana.

"Azama," shouted Hinoka, "I need you to patch up my sister!" Azama almost floated over to Sakura and bathed her in the light of his festal staff.

"Thank you," I said to him, as he turned away, "for getting me out of there. A second longer and I would've been a goner."

"Hm," He said, tilting his head. "What's a second, anyways, when we all die in the end."

* * *

Bottomless Canyon was cold. Not just in temperature- although being up high _was_ chilly, and the area around the canyon even more so. But the temperature wasn't the only thing that was cold. Something about the area- something about the canyon itself- was dull and dreary. The days lost their color as we neared it- trees seemed grey and even Hana seemed to lose her spark for training and sparring. But finally we approached the tall tower that was the Hoshidan fort. Omozu's men had already reached the castle by the time I arrived with Sakura, Hinoka, and their retainers. Azama's nihilistic take on the world had become commonplace over even the few days since our first real interaction, and although Hinoka proved to be fiery and driven, she seemed to fade as we approached the fort. The other retainer of Hinoka's, who I also hadn't spent any prior time with, seemed to either be incredibly determined or incredibly absent-minded in her distantness- she must've not said more than three sentences the entire march.

The fort was a simple Hoshidan-style building, grey and red, surrounded by a dense fog. Barren and twisted trees framed the fort, and just beyond it, a plummeting fall into darkness.

"It can't really be bottomless, can it?", I said.

"You could test it out," mumbled Azama. His hand rested gently on my shoulder, and I flinched.

"No one has ever returned from the bottom," said Hinoka.

I raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps that's just because they just fell down a canyon?" Subaki chuckled next to me, and Hana snorted.

Hinoka let out a hearty laugh. "Perhaps! Sakura," she said, turning to her younger sister, "run inside and tell Omozu we've arrived. I'll help with carrying our supplies inside." She grabbed a pack from the back of her pegasus and followed behind Sakura, who ran gracefully up the steps towards the fort.

I pulled my own pack higher onto my shoulders and walked up towards the windy, foggy, and altogether bleak building. The stone steps were cracked and out of position and the sun was barely visible through the gloom. The Hoshidan fort stood quite precipitously, and I briefly had a vision of it toppling down into the canyon below. I shook that vision off and headed inside.

The inside of the fort was surprisingly warm. Omozu must've fueled the building's great central furnace, and so at least we would have heating while we were stationed here. Still, something about the air felt soul-sucking. I approached a guard by the door and asked her to point me to the barracks- my bed was hard and crammed in the corner, above both Subaki and Hana's bunks.

"Are you ready to get training, Jason?" Hana asked, grinning widely. Her injuries from the skirmish with the Faceless had healed, except for a small bruise above her left brow.

"Training? We just got here, Hana…." I sighed. "Besides, it's so cold and dreary- I can hardly stand. How are you so chipper?"  
"It's not that bad here, Jason," she said, frowning. "Sure, its grey, but its not cold at all! I think that Omozu heating the fort was unnecessary, if we're being honest. Besides, we have to be ready to protect Lady Sakura!"

"Mmm, yeah." I nodded, but weakly. I didn't like the vibes of this place, but it didn't seem to bother Hana. Nor did it bother Subaki, who strutted into our cramped room with his head held high.

"Hana," he said, smiling. "Jason. I've got to go help organize and train the guards, but then I'll be perfectly warmed up for some sparring!"

"Oh well. I guess we can't train for now, Hana," I said, laughing dryly.

"Don't think you're getting out of it that easy, Jason," said Hana. Subaki moved to exit the room, but Hana stopped him. "Hey, Subaki! I'm curious...why do you go around telling people you're perfect?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned slowly. "What do you mean by that, Hana? And it's not like I'm lying." He grinned and squinted his eyes like a cat. I rolled my eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

Hana kept digging into him. "Do you really think you're 100 percent perfect? Like...without any flaws at all?"

Subaki laughed. "If you're trying to say something, just say it. Don't dance around it."

"OK, then. If you're so perfect, then why did you fall off your horse that day. You know, when you first met me and Lady Sakura?" Hana's face was smug.

My jaw dropped. "He didn't!", I said.

"Right in front of me and Lady Sakura," she said. "I didn't know it was possible to fly that far from a stationary horse!'

"Subaki," I said, "is that true?"

Subaki looked down and sighed deeply. "Why is it that you always bring this up? Can't you just let it rest, Hana…"

Hana looked around thoughtfully. "No, never. Unless you tell the whole Hoshidan army!" She stuck out her tongue.

"Hana," I said, "don't be cruel!" Subaki looked at me and smiled. "How could he get to the army if he couldn't stay on a horse?" Subaki's smile turned into a frown and Hana was beside herself with laughter.

"Why are you two attacking me out of the blue?", he said.

"Hey! I'm a neutral third party!", I said. "Air your grievances, comrades."

"You were acting so recklessly against the Faceless back on the road," said Hana. "And every day back home I always hear the same things- 'You're so lucky! You get to work with that handsome amazing Subaki!' Oh, or 'He's so perfect and flawless! You get to be near him all the time!' 'I bet it's hard to shine with perfection so close to you!'" Hana's face was reddening. "They say this to my face- even around town!"

"Oh, Hana...they say those things to you?" Subaki stared straight at her. "That's so wonderful! I'm so glad that they are complimenting me!"

"That's not what it's like at all," said Hana, huffing. "Think about how I feel! I have to lie to them- you're hardly perfect! You're reckless in battle and you fall off your horse when you're standing still- someone like that isn't perfect."

"Hmph," he said.

"Are you mad? Do you have anything to prove me wrong?" Hana was getting angry. "I'm sure Jason feels the same way- they're just too nice to tell you so."

I frowned. Sure, Subaki was a bit...extra...but I wasn't about to go and make fun of him. "Don't drag me into this, Hana!"

Subaki grinned. "Yes, they have no part in this debate. Besides, I have to go- I have guards to train."

"Wait, Subaki," I said, calling out to him. "You can't just change the subject like that. I say you can settle this argument with Hana in a kind of a...duel."

"Yes!," shouted Hana. "We'll have a battle to see who is the worthiest retainer. Jason, you can judge." I frowned. I didn't want to have to judge anything, especially not up here by the canyon.

"Okay," I said, "but let's wait to return to the castle before we do this challenge. We have a duty right now."

Subaki smiled. "That sounds good to me! Someone as perfect as myself can't possibly lose! Now Jason, Hana, I'll see you later! I have a duty to do."

Hana furrowed her brow. "I'll show him…"

"Hana, where did the feud with Subaki start?"

"It's always been there, I think," she said. "I've known Sakura- Lady Sakura, since I was little. My father was a samurai who guarded King Sumeragi- the old king, Queen Mikoto's husband- and so I was always at the palace. Sakura and I would sneak out to the fields and play." Hana grew sad, suddenly. "This was before Corrin was taken away. I didn't see her much, because she was always trying to spend time with Ryoma and Hinoka, but she played with us sometimes. She was hardly older than Takumi, but she always was playing with the older siblings and pretending to be old and wise. Honestly? She acted a lot older than she was." Hana sniffled. "I don't really remember her, but after the Nohrians took her Sakura was never the same."

"I don't know what to say, Hana. I'm sorry," I said, frowning. "I know why everyone is so afraid of me when they think I'm from Nohr, though. These Nohrians sound truly awful."

"Yeah, they really are evil. Gosh, I'd forgotten what we were talking about!" Hana looked embarrassed for getting so upset. "Let's get out training, while there's still good light. We can't slack just because we aren't at the castle!"

Hana and I had scarcely geared up for training when Subaki came rushing into the room again, breathless. "Hana, we just received an urgent message from Lord Ryoma. Hinoka and Sakura were called on a mission to the north- urgently. Their retainers are to accompany them- that means us." Hana nodded and began packing her bags up. "Jason...since you're not really a retainer of Sakura's, Ryoma asked that you remain here to help in the defense of the canyon. We'll send for you soon, okay?"

I frowned. I didn't want to be left alone and friendless in the barracks, especially not when the canyon made me feel so lousy, but I didn't really have a choice if Ryoma was asking. "Yeah, okay. I'll get some painting done, or something!"

"That sounds wonderful," said Subaki, "I'm sorry that we're leaving you like this."

"I guess our duel will be postponed, Subaki." Hana laughed, and hugged me. "I know how shitty it is that you aren't being considered useful. But I'm sure that if everything goes well at the fort, you'll be considered trustworthy enough to accompany on missions in the future. Just don't forget to do your training, and you'll be fine!" I smiled.

"Hana, we have to leave. Jason, take care," said Subaki. "Lady Sakura wishes she could say goodbye, but I think Hinoka wants her to not act sentimental right now."

I nodded, and hugged Subaki. "Don't you die out there, Hana, Subaki. I need you guys to come back soon!"

Subaki laughed. "I'm too perfect to die on a simple Faceless fighting mission! And if any Nohrians try to mess with us, then they'll have to see that they're up against Subaki, the great!"

Hana rolled her eyes. "We'll be fine, Jason," she said, tossing her bags back over her shoulder. "Stay safe." And like that, I was alone in the fort on Bottomless Canyon. Of course, there were others here with me, but no one that trusted me particularly much, nor anyone I could call a friend.

I unpacked my bags, pulling out the pouch of painting materials I had gotten from Queen Mikoto before I left the castle. I had a small canvas, too- quite a display of trust. It would sit on the small table in the barracks room for a little, because for now I just wanted to doodle. I pulled out some sheets of parchment paper and a stick of wrapped charcoal and started to sketch.

A figure began to emerge from my chicken-scratch lines in the center of the paper. He was tall and stern, with a book held in one hand and a sword in the other. His long flowing cloak waved around him- carried by a breeze. I started to sketch around him, like drawing something from a dream. Snaking around him appeared a serpent-like creature, six bird-like wings emerging from it. I felt a surge of deep seated revulsion in the pit of my stomach as soon as I lifted the charcoal from the paper. The serpent that I had drawn stared back from the paper and I breathed out slowly. I was reminded of a time when I was 12 and I had dreamed of a beautiful man that I came upon in a forest. His skin was green and his clothes were stitched from red and white rose petals, and he took my hand and twirled me, as if in a dance. Thorns bursting from his skin cut into me, and when I woke up I tried to draw this rose prince. Everytime I tried to draw this dream I was hit by something, and I couldn't do it.

 _Some things are meant to be dreamed,_ I thought, tearing up the picture I had just drawn. I felt like I was going to throw up, and then something else awful hit me. The loneliness. I looked out the little window in my new room, out over the yawning canyon that I had to guard. Wiry trees dug into the edges of the canyon, and thick fog drifted over the black slashes that went as far down as I could see. The wiry tendrils of fog made me think of snakes, or tentacles, reaching up to grab me and drag me into the canyon. I had left my home behind, and those friends were infinitely distant. And even the allies that I had made in Hoshido were far away now- just a fort filled with a bunch of soldiers who probably thought I was a spy. It was just me and the fog over Bottomless Canyon. And yet, with no one to hear me, I felt a song push at my lips.

 _A spirit climbs my spine to the brain_

 _Following the railroad tracks down again_

 _I needed space with soul, maybe we can die there_

 _Maybe we can..._

 _Stop._

 _I'm already dead_

 _Stop._

 _I'm already dead_

 **A/N: Song ref for this chapter is:** **watch?v=E73IQx21DEo** **. This chapter didn't have too much going on, but next chapter things will definitely pick up. I hope you enjoy!**


	12. Girl in the Tower (Matthew)

I don't exactly remember waking up as much I coming to realize I was awake. Does that make sense? Probably not. I sat up groggily and rubbed my eyes. Looking around the room, I saw that my three companions were still asleep. I yawned, albeit apparently a bit too loud, because a pillow flew into my face.

"Shut up" Severa said sleepily, face in pillow. I blinked twice, unable to think of a comeback after just waking up. As quietly as I could so as not to disturb _her majesty,_ I got dressed, and began to organize my belongings on my desk. There was sheet music, some of it burned in the fight with Grima, one of two slashed to unrecognizable shreds. I had put a lot of work into those. I stored two knives in the desk and kept one in my coat, because if Peri was anything to go by, I'd need it. Next was a bag of candies that Gaius had given me about a week before the fight. I took one out and sucked on it thoughtfully as I continued to unload. Then came a book of songs that I had written and published. Written isn't really the truth- in reality I didn't write any of it. I figured that, while stealing from artists is bad, if they don't exist in your current realm it's probably ok. I think I was evading copyright laws.

I think.

Thankfully the book somehow remained unscathed for the most part, with the exception of a cut in the velvet cover. In the side pocket of my bag was more gold, and pretty much all that I had left. Hopefully the currency of generic gold pieces was the same. I could probably convince people otherwise if they caught on. Then there were two items left. One was a black book that made me feel sick every time I picked it up. As per habit, I opened up the inside cover and read the little message.

 _This book belongs to Maya. Touch it at your own risk._

I sighed and put it in a drawer. Next was a bow, broken in two. I help it in both hands, being sure to handle the frail but beautiful with care. Etched on the inside was another little message.

 _Jason's favorite bow. No touch._

I chuckled at my friends for their antics. They never seemed to change too much, but I think I did. It's hard not to. Maybe they changed and they just didn't want to show it. It was probably the case, and it just made me feel worse for letting them down. They'd probably say it wasn't my fault, but, I was the only one left, so I certainly felt like a failure.

That was it. That was everything in my pack. I knelt there for a moment and decided what to bring with me for the day. The pack would be too much of a hassle to bring everywhere, so only things that would fit into my coat and pockets. I took a couple of pieces of sheet music. Maybe I could fix them somewhere. I took a few coins and left it at that. Quietly walking out the door I made my way back into the main hall from the night before. Servants shuffled about aimlessly, cleaning this and that, correcting the position of vases and picture frames. No sign of Peri anywhere, she was probably still asleep. I figured I should try to find Xander and see what he needed from me today. I really could have used a day off, but if I wanted to be trusted I would need to make the best impression possible. The only problem was I was painfully unfamiliar with the castle's layout, and with no idea what I was doing otherwise, I was forced to ask for directions. Might as well go for the first person I saw- a man standing aimlessly watching the servants go about their work. He wore some official looking robes and had long black hair. He probably knew the way around.

"Excuse me." I called out to him. He didn't move. "Uh… hello?" I walked up and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, very slowly, until I was looking at a porcelain mask, that even covered the man's eye. I gulped. It was quite unnerving.

"I'm sorry." He said, unapologetically. "I thought I heard a bug flying about. Looks like it was you." He turned around to fully face me, revealing that his mask only covered half his face. _Phantom of the Nohr Castle,_ I thought to myself. "What do you want peasant." I was getting a bit mad, so I decided to play the status card.

"This _peasant_ ," I said, flashing him my new jewel from my coat pocket "would like to know where lord Xander is at the moment." The man looked at the jewel and smiled slowly.

"Ah… what a quick trusting fool our high prince can be." He said, then smirked at me. "Well well, Mr. Retainer, he's in his private study, as he always is."

"Great." I said running out of patience. I was just going to leave it at that and ask someone else where the study was, but then the man took a step back and put a hand over his heart.

"My my, settle down. I gave you his location as you are one of Xander's trusted retainers. Unless…" He leaned in, regaining the distance he had just put between us. "...you have no idea where that is, do you?" I stared at him. I didn't say anything because I figured if this guy was this confident speaking to someone directly under the high prince, he must be an important guy. He wasn't the king, was he?

"Of course I know." I bluffed. The man's smile only grew.

"Well then by all means, lead the way."

"...What?"

"I also have business with Xander this morning. Lead the way." I gulped. He caught me.

"S-Sure. Let me just…" I glances around desperately for clues. Luckily, I was saved.

"That's enough, Iago." I heard a voice say behind me. I turned to see the younger prince from yesterday walking down the stairs towards us. "Leave my brother's retainer alone. You have business to do with father don't you? He wants you in his chambers. Leave at once." Iago actually grimaced slightly and looked back at me. He smiled cruelly.

"And I was hoping to get to know you more over a walk. Oh well. Ta ta for now, child. Welcome to the family." He said that last bit a little hushed, with an extra little bit of venom added. He brushed past me, hitting my shoulder on the way past me, bowing to the young prince as he passed, and continued towards the direction of two massive doors I could only assume was the throne room. The young prince walked to me. For the life of me I couldn't remember his name. I was always bad at names.

I placed one hand in between my chest and my stomach and bowed at the point it created. "Thank you very much, milord." I said. "I apologize for causing the need for you to interrupt." He nodded and chuckled to himself.

"Don't worry about it." He said. "Truth be told, I hate that man. He annoys me in everything he does. Father doesn't even need him." He smiled devilishly as he looked towards the throne room. "And father _hates_ to be disturbed." He turned back to me, clearly pleased with himself. "Anyways, do not concern yourself with him. In fact, if you wish to exact revenge short of maiming him I can pardon you for it. You wish to know where my brother is, yes?" He raised an eyebrow.

"If your lordship wouldn't mind, yes." I bowed again.

"You… really needn't grovel so much." He said, somewhat surprised. "I'm not even the oldest, not even close. Anyways." He pointed to a door. "Head in through there towards the northern side of the castle. Roam the hallways until you find the large door with the Nohrian emblem over it. That is Xander's study. He works in there almost every day, dawn till dusk." He walked past me. "Now, I apologize, but I must find your… loud companion. Is he still sleeping?"

"I believe so." I said. The prince hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why must I recruit another retainer? What is Xander thinking…" He mumbled to himself, walking in the direction I just came from. I turned and walked in the direction he pointed me in. After a few hallways, the lovely smell of food became painfully present. I would need to stop by the kitchen and see what was happening later. For now, I continued to roam aimlessly until I finally found the door I was looking for. I took in a breath, closed my eyes for a moment, and then knocked on the door politely.

"Lord Xander? Can I come in?" I heard the closing of a drawer, followed by an answer.

"Yes Matthew, enter."

I opened the door, walked inside bowing slightly to Xander, then closed the door behind me."Good morning, milord." I said formally. I stood at attention with my hands behind my back. Xander cracked a smile.

"Good morning to you too. Were your chambers comfortable?" I nodded. He seemed pleased with that. "Good." He readjusted in his seat and gestured to a chair across from his desk. Xander's study was beautiful. If he only had a pipe it would be perfect. The walls were bookshelves and there were no empty spaces save a few that were caused by books currently open on his desk. The carpeting was green and the ceiling was polished stone. A chandelier and two torches were the only light sources for the room, save for one small window near the ceiling that had a birds nest in it. Jason would've liked to see that. I took my seat and awaited orders. And waited. And continued to wait. Xander continued to work as though I was not there. Eventually he put down his pen and looked up.

"...Yes?" He said. I was at a loss for words.

"...Don't you have a job for me?" I asked.

"Not at the current moment no. I also think it would be unfair of me to give you tasks when you do not know your way around the area. I thought you came in to chat."

"Oh. Well, I mean, I can chat if you want."

"..."

"..."

"Relax Matthew. I'm not just your boss, I want to be your friend. We can help each other more so that way."

"I thought it was my job to help you?"

"Yes, but you're not my slave. Brighten up. You have the day off. You may spend it here, with your friends, whatever you wish."

My mind thought of the music I had shoved into my coat. "Very well." I said, slightly relieved. The sleep had done very little for me. I could use the day. "Tell me Lord Xander, do you sing at all?"

"...I'm sorry?"

"Do you sing. It's a simple question."

"I… suppose I do not. Why do you ask?"

"Well I'm a musician and songwriter in my spare time. I just wanted to know if you wanted to expand your talents, as I'd love to help you along. Speaking of which, where is your music room?"

Xander pondered for a moment. "Yes, I suppose I could learn, though I cannot give you an estimate of when we could work. Musician? Yes that makes sense for you actually. Our music room is currently being cleaned by staff but I suppose you can use the piano in…" He stopped. He looked at me seriously. "Do you remember where we first met? On the roof of that one building? Do you remember your way there?" I nodded. "That is where the piano is. You will…" He hesitated then shook his head. "You will meet someone there. Someone very important. Her existence is not to be known to the outside world. I know I can trust you not to tell."

"Of course milord."

"Very well then. Enjoy your time. I shall see you this evening." He returned to his work. I stood up, bowed to him, and began to leave. I opened the door and was met face to face with my son, who jumped slightly.

"Ah, father." He said, smiling. "I see lord Xander summoned you as well. May I come in?" I looked behind me at Xander who waved his hand that I let Inigo in.

"Yes, of course Laslow," I said. I got out of the way and let him in. As I left I felt some worry. I was sure that Xander was about to test Inigo of his abilities. I trusted he would do well, but I could never know for certain. Xander was certainly a force to be afraid of.

I returned to the old fort that I had entered by with relative ease. Now that I could see the inside, I could see how little care was put into it's elegance. Everything was clean and in the right place, but it lacked the finesse of the main castle by a landslide. No art, several carpets making up the floor, and hardly any lighting. It was almost like a prison. Eventually I found the piano room. Peering in, it was a small room with nothing but the piano. It was somewhat naturally soundproof, given its distance from any other part of the fort, but the reason I found it at all was because someone was plucking away at notes. That someone was a woman, relatively young with white hair down a little bit above her waist. She sat bored, hitting one key at a time seemingly at random. The melody was somewhat haunting as a result, as she kept changing keys.

"Hello?" I said politely. She jumped and faced me.

"Who are you? Are you supposed to be here?" She asked.

I smiled to reassure her and showed her my retainer's jewel. "The music room in the castle is taken. Can I ask your name?"

She was standing now, eyeing me carefully. "...Corrin. Are you my brother's new retainer? He said something about finding new ones soon." She was timid, but at the same unafraid to speak to me.

"Yes I am. I'm Matthew. I'm a musician and a swordsman." She smiled.

"That's an odd combination, don't you think?"

"You should meet my companions." I walked into the room and gestured to the piano."What were you playing?" She shrugged.

"I'm not allowed to leave the fort so I just spend my days how I can." I paused in my movement for a moment.

"...I see." Someone who needs protection, the voice had told us to protect. Not allowed to leave. Unknown to the rest of the world. There was something more to this girl, and I was beginning to suspect that she was just the someone I was brought to this world for. Far as I could tell, no one else in Nohr was treated like this. "Tell me Corrin, do you like music?"

She tilted her head to the side in thought. "I never really thought about it too much."

"Do you want to give singing a try?"

She looked surprised, then hushed, looked around and leaned in close. "...Do you think I'm allowed to? I've never tried."

"Of course you're allowed to!" I said happily. She smiled and jumped a little.

"Alright then, I'm willing to give it a shot!"

"Great!" I played a C on the piano. "Can you sing this note?"

"Right now?"

"When else?" She tried to sing the note.

"Close, you're just a bit flat. Try again, a little bit higher!" We kept at it for a while. Eventually she sighed.

"Is this all that singing is? I've heard it's much fancier than a handful of notes."

I paused and thought about it. Rather than answer her question with a long explanation of the beauty of music that she wouldn't understand, I simply turned to the piano and belted out several bars of "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from Phantom. I looked back. She blinked a couple of times in awe.

"...and I can do that?"

"With time. Let's continue." We continued to work for a few more hours. She made great progress for that time, and soon she was singing scales easily. Her tonality would come with time, she was just unconfident for now.

"This is so much fun!" She said laughing. "I love it! I can see why my brother picked you."

"I'm flattered. Let's try harmony. I'm going to sing an 'E'," I played it, "while you will sing a 'C'. Ready?" She nodded determined. "Ok… 1, 2, ready, and-!" We sang the notes. She was off by a bit, and eventually rose to my note. "You almost had it. We can work on harmonies later. How about you sing something with words?"

"Alright!" She said. She had seemed so somber when I walked in, but now she was so happy. I felt proud that I could help her without even knowing why she was down. If she wasn't allowed to leave this fort, her life must've pretty dismal. But I wasn't going to bring her down again by asking about it.

"Ok, let me see what I have…" I reached into my coat and pulled out my sheet music, browsing through the titles. Corrin looked over my shoulder.

"Looks complicated."

"You'll get used to it eventually." I finally settled on one. "This one is one of my favorites. I think it's very pretty. I'll sing through it once, so listen well so you can copy me afterwards, ok?" She nodded. I smiled at her, turned to the piano, and gave the song a quick read with my eyes. I set my fingers on the piano and began to play the intro. Once I finished it, Corrin clapped. I smiled and began to sing.

 _One bright, and guiding light,_

 _That taught me wrong from right,_

 _I found in my mother's eyes._

 _Those baby tales she told,_

 _Of pathways paved with gold,_

 _I found in my mother's eyes._

 _Just like a wandering sparrow,_

 _A lonely soul_

 _I walk the straight and narrow_

 _To reach my goal._

I let the last note hang. There was more to the song, but it was burned off. Plus, that was enough to learn in one sitting. I turned back, and jumped a little bit. Corrin was looking at me sadly, about ready to cry.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I said, standing up. Xander said she was important, and she called him her brother. I was making my boss's little sister incredibly sad. I was going to get fired, and fired seemed like it might be a bit… literal in Nohr. "I didn't mean to make you sad, really. We can do a different song if you want?" I said nervously. She was silent for a moment, then looked at me and smiled.

"No, it's ok. It's just that song reminded me of…" Her brow furrowed. "...someone."

"Oh… your mother?"

"...My mother is dead." Oh. That meant Xander's mom must be dead as well.

"I'm sorry then. Do you want a different song?"

"No I like it, it just confused me for a moment. More importantly, your voice is amazing!" She looked at me, genuinely impressed. I smiled,

"Thank you, I appreciate it a lot. Now, the starting note-" I didn't get to finish.

"Excuse me." A new voice said. A well dressed man with silver hair and his hands behind his back was in the doorway. He was standing straight and tall, with a complacent look on his face. "Lady Corrin, you haven't forgotten what day it is, correct? You need to leave soon. And who is this?"

"Oh, good evening Jakob." Corrin said. "This is Matthew. He is one of my brother's new retainers."

I stood up and extended my hand, "Pleasure to meet you."

The butler took my hand and shook it. He was wearing dark gloves. "Indeed. I am a servant in this fort in the service of Lord Corrin. Please let me know if you need anything." He turned back to Corrin. "Come along milady, we must be off. You do not want to keep the king waiting."

Corrin paled slightly and suddenly became quite nervous. "Y-yes of course. Thanks Jakob. And thank you Matthew. I hope we can do this again soon. I will see you later." She and Jakob left. I sighed and turned back to the piano, playing a simple melody. _Maybe this won't be so bad afterall._

_  
I arrived back at the castle late. Xander was nowhere to be found, but I figured since he gave me the day off anyways it was no big deal. I would find him eventually tomorrow. Even if he offered I wouldn't give myself another day. I only needed one to clear my head a bit from all the insanity. I walked back to my room and walked inside to find Inigo and Severa sitting on the floor, eating my candies. They stopped talking and looked at me. Finally Inigo, without breaking eye contact with me, reached into the bag and pulled out a lollipop.

"Want one?" He said, causing Severa to hold in laughter.

"Of my candies? Sure." I said, snatching the bag and putting it back on my desk. I took off my coat and took a seat on the floor with them. "Where's Owain?" I said through my lollipop.

"You really want to know?" Severa said, "Because, it's a doozy."

"Hit me."

Severa smiled and leaned back. "You tell him Inigo. It's too funny for me."

Inigo shot up to his feet and struck a pose, imitating Owain, "I, Odin Dark, have been given my first task as retainer to the royal prince Leo! I have been tasked with the great duty to put down the spirits lying in rest in the Woods of the Forlorn! I shall return upon the next morning!" Inigo sat down, out of breath. Severa was laughing hard on her side. I was laughing too. Inigo had a pretty decent Owain impression it turns out. "And then he left." Inigo said, shrugging.

"Well good for him." I said, "What else did you all do today. Get your jewels?" I brought mine out and showed them. They both did the same. So Inigo _did_ pass his trial. "What did he have you do Inigo? He said you and I would be different."

Inigo shrugged and casually said, "He had me duel him." I almost choked on my candy.

"You _fought_ that guy?" I said incredulously.

Inigo nodded. "I won." _**WHAT?**_ I thought. Were we talking about Xander? Did he fight the smaller one instead? But no, his jewel was a complete match for mine, where as Severa's was a more blue color, Inigo's and mine were a deep purple. While I had no way to prove it, I figured this meant it was from the same royal family member. But I had other news to share with the group.

"On a side note…" I said leaning in towards the middle of our little triangle, "I believe I've found the person we're supposed to protect." Severa instantly shot up into a cross legged position, Inigo leaned in closer. "Her name is Corrin." I said. "She's essentially a prisoner in that fort that we passed through when we came to the main castle."

"Camilla told me about that girl." Severa said. "Said that if I ever do anything to harm her not only will my retainership be removed, but Camilla would execute me without a second thought." Severa looked down for a second and exhaled a pathetic laugh. "...Sisters." She said. I bet she was thinking about Lucina.

"Xander said he had to watch someone named Corrin after our duel." Inigo said. "I accompanied him. I think we may have a slight problem."

"Why?" I asked.

"Corrin actually came to the castle today." He replied. I remembered the words of the butler from before and how Corrin tensed when reminded what day it was. I guess it was the day Corrin finally got to leave.

"What did she come here for?"

"To prove herself to her father, apparently. He forced her to kill some prisoners after facing them in armed combat." Inigo said grimly. "But she refused to do so. Eventually, Lord Leo killed them in Corrin's stead, but the king was incredibly upset. I was a ways away on an observing platform so I couldn't hear what was being said but his actions made it clear he wasn't too thrilled."

"What's the slight problem then."

"Well…" said Severa, head raised again. "Corrin left shortly afterwards! Apparently the king is offering her the chance to redeem herself by scouting out an abandoned fort on the border." Severa sighed. "Camilla wouldn't shut up about how worried she was about her 'precious little sister'." She gave the last three words her best Camilla impersonation, dropping her voice way lower than it typically could go.

"...So the person who we traveled across time and space to protect…?"

Inigo sighed and nodded. "Is miles away by now, yes. A shame. She looked so beautiful as she fought. I couldn't wait to introduce myself."

 **A/N: Song used this chapter:** **watch?v=w1nQoLgHJEQ** **(This will become a regular thing. We realized maybe you guys would like to listen as you read to add to the experience, or you just wanted the song for better context, or you were just looking for new music. Music used will vary. Expect a lot of musicals. You've been warned.) Where to start. Well I guess that we're kind've on a roll right now. We don't really know why? It's just happening so we're going for it. Hopefully it continues. We spent so much time planning all this out chapters practically write themselves right now, at least for me. So that just means more stuff for you guys. Enjoy.**


	13. Let's Get Down Business (Jason)

A voice rang out across my lonely barracks room. "Wake up," shouted someone, "enemies are approaching from across the canyon!" I was jolted from my sleep. I saw a Hoshidan samurai run from my door as I bolted up. I jumped from bed, my bare feet curling as they hit the cold wood floor. The sun was just beginning to rise outside the window- it must've been 4 or 5 in the morning. The room was cold and dark but I knew where my things were and I knew that I had to prove myself here- or else I'd probably get slaughtered.

" _Let's get down to business,"_ I murmured to myself. " _To defeat the Huns."_ I pulled on a pair of pants and pulled my armor on my body. I tied a short kimono around the armor and slid on my socks and boots. I wasn't doing anything particularly special, but this hitched in my memory. " _Did they give me daughters when I asked for sons?_ " The normalcy of getting dressed when I was about to go out to a real battle, maybe, was what locked it there in my mind. I grabbed my sword and made my way outside the room. " _You're the saddest bunch I've ever met,_ " I hummed, passing samurai and ninja frantically running through the fort, preparing for whatever army the Nohrians had sent, " _But you can bet before we're through."_ With my katana drawn, I walked out to the front of the fort, standing beside Omozu and a pair of other Hoshidan samurai. _Somehow I'll make a man out of you_ , went my thoughts, and then I looked at the approaching force of Nohrians.

Force is a strong word- too strong to describe the four Nohrians who stood before us now. "Perhaps they are just here for negotiations?", I whispered, leaning over towards Omozu. "A force like that couldn't possibly be a threat."

"I agree," he said. "Kazuma, go tell them to halt." A samurai- the one who had woken me up- ran to the bridge where the four approached from. There was a short girl with waist length white hair leading the group, behind her a mounted older man, to her left a handsome and well dressed grey haired man, and to her right a bald and scantily clad axe wielder.

"Hold on!," said Kazuma, raising a sword. "Do not advance any further, soldiers of Nohr!"

Omozu stepped a little closer and called out calmly. "Yes, crossing that bridge is a violation of our border treaty. Turn back at once, or we'll be forced to attack!"

The well dressed man whispered something in the ear of the white-haired commander. "We're not here to fight!", she shouted to Omozu. She then turned to her soldiers and said something inaudible. The older man nodded and seemed ready to turn and head back across the bridge, when the bald axeman opened his mouth and said something I couldn't hear.

"Gyaaah!", he shouted leaping in front of his commander and swinging his axe with a clean sideways motion at Kazuma's neck. The samurai screamed briefly before his head was sent flying from his shoulders, falling down into the canyon below. His body toppled before the axeman gave it a sharp kick, sending it down after its head. "Ahahaha! Die, scumbags!"

Omozu went stone-faced. "You'll pay for this," he said, sharply. "Soldiers of Hoshido, hear me! Do not leave a single Nohrian alive!" The fort stirred into action. A group of soldiers ran to meet the axewielder on the bridge that led to the fort. I stayed up with Omozu and a samurai by the door, waiting to protect the entrance.

The bald axe wielder charge the gathered group of our soldiers, swinging wildly. He came upon the samurai in the front with astounding savagery, his giant axe carving through flesh and bone like a hot knife through a stick of butter. I felt disgust surge in my stomach, and the urge to vomit, as he tore down a ninja too. By now arrows stuck in his sides like a pincushion, but he kept swinging, tearing open a hole in our forces. "Gyaaaah!", he shouted, "Die! Die!" And yet, he was flagging. There was no way that the Nohrians would get to the fort...and yet, the mounted man, the butler, and the leader didn't seem to be moving towards the bridge. They ran towards what seemed like a dead end outcropping of rock as the axeman started retreating from a renewed barrage of shuriken and arrows.

"What are those three doing?", said Omozu.

"I'm not sure-," I said, and then the ground started shaking. The white haired woman stood by the edge of the canyon and a circle of runes spun around her in a flash of light. Suddenly, a wave of stones tore free from the surrounding cliffs. The aligned in thick line from the cliff right by where Omozu and I stood, leading straight to where the Nohrian soldiers stood. The white haired woman smiled and pulled out a long black sword that glistened with a red light, before charging towards us with a yell.

"Do we have reinforcements on their way, Omozu?", I said.

"Yes," he said. "The signal fires were lit, and hopefully some of Hinoka's very own pegasus knights will be here soon."

"We may need them," I said, standing at the ready as the three forces approached. Although we outnumbered them, something about the white-haired leader's sword threw me off. Maybe we still were the ones at disadvantage.

The old man on horseback reached us first, his horse cantering across the magically raised bridge. His lance took out an archer before she could even draw her bowstring and she fell unceremoniously into the canyon below. _What an awful place to die_ , I thought, as the mounted knight bore down upon us. Behind him came that butler and the white haired woman, who came straight for us as the knight dispatched our soldiers. On the horizon I could see our pegasus knights approaching, but this would be a battle that we'd have to fight alone.

The white haired woman and her butler charged at me and Omozu. The samurai standing guard with us charged the mounted knight, trying to keep him away from us. "Do you even realize what you've done here today? Hoshido won't stand for unprovoked attacks like this. Revenge will be ours!", shouted Omozu, drawing a set of shuriken and throwing them at the pair of Nohrians that approached. One of his blades sunk into the arm of the white-haired commander, and she winced.

"You're not going to get away with this, Nohrian scum!" I yelled, charging with blade drawn. I was quite shocked at the words coming out of my mouth, and at the aggressiveness with which I charged the pair in front of me. I swung my sword sharply downwards, but the white haired woman blocked my swing easily, knocking me back. A pair of daggers thudded into my side and I dropped to a knee. The woman charged Omozu, but I noticed she was swinging the flat side of her blade- not killing him. I could feel myself weakening as the white haired woman approached, her sword raised executioner style. "Just do it," I said. "Fucking kill me, just don't kidnap me like you did to…" What was that princess's name? "To Corrin. Just fucking do it!"

The white haired woman seemed apprehensive, but the bald axe wielder, seemingly healed quite a bit, approached with an axe raised high. "Very well, you can die too!" He raised the axe at my neck and-

"Hans, wait!", cried the woman, blocking the axe with her rocky sword. So that was the name of the bloodthirsty axe wielder- Hans. "What did you say about someone named Corrin?"

I looked up at her and spat. I could feel my blood draining. _One of the daggers must've nicked an artery_ , I thought. _I'll be a puddle on the ground soon enough._ "You have caused us nothing but harm, Nohrians."

The white haired woman nodded. "I'm sorry. I won't kill you, nor any of your soldiers," she said raising the flat side of her blade and preparing to knock me out. "Orders are ord- agh!" Three shurikens sprouted from her neck.

"Milady!", shouted her butler, raising a staff to heal her wounds. Hans raised his axe to behead me this time, but a shuriken caught his hand and he dropped his axe.

From behind me came two figures. _Saizo,_ I thought. _And Kagero?_ The two assassins were not the biggest fans of me, but yet here they were saving me. Kagero held a bottle to my mouth and whispered "drink!", and I felt my wounds close. More of the Hoshidan forces trickled in behind the two ninjas.

"You're the leader of these troops?", said Saizo. "Pah! You're nothing more than a girl." I furrowed my brow. With Saizo it as hard to tell if he was being diminutive or misogynistic. Regardless, I understood his hatred for the woman in front of me.

"Who are you?", she asked, still reeling from his shuriken fire.

"Hmph. My name is Saizo. I've come to claim your life."

"Everyone!", called the woman. "We're still under attack!"

"Destroy them!", shouted Saizo, and he and Kagero advanced, flanked by other Hoshidan soldiers and the newly arrived Pegasus Knights from the south.

"I won't allow it!" A booming voice echoed across the canyon. A blond man clad in purple and black armor ringed with gold rode forward his glowing red sword held aloft.

"What!?," exclaimed Saizo, "this must be their real commander..."

"What's going on here Corrin," said the princely looking blond man. _Corrin?,_ I thought, _is that why she seemed so confused when I named the stolen princess?_ _Who is this woman?_

"Xander!", said Corrin. She turned to face the blond man, and from the other side of the bridge advanced two other figures on horseback. One, a blonde man that looked like a younger Xander, held a purple book bound in black sigils. The other was a young girl with large blonde pigtails. From above swooped down a scantily clad purple-haired woman riding a dragon. _A fucking dragon?,_ I thought, _who are these people?_

"Who dares attack my beloved Corrin?," shouted the dragon riding woman, "I'll have their heads on a platter!" She swept down upon a pair of samurai and with one sweep of her axe beheaded both. She seemed to be revelling in this destruction.

"This is not going well…", murmured Saizo. "We're outnumbered. Kagero, do we have anyone else on the way?"

"Affirmative," she said, "Lord Ryoma is right behind me."

"Ahh...,", said Saizo, "Then I think this battle is as good as won." He threw a shuriken, narrowly missing the face of the wyvern-riding woman. Xander said something about being outnumbered and Corrin and the older knight rode off down the bridge, with the other four close behind. "Get up, Jason," said Saizo, extending a hand but speaking sharply. "Lord Ryoma will be here soon and we can't disappoint him. What's the status of the fort?"

I scoured the battlefield. "Uh...not good, sir. Omozu was defeated, as were most of our soldiers...only a few deaths, though. That woman seemed to be avoiding killing us as much as she could." A few _yumi_ wielders still held position on the bridge, but the stone made summoned artefact had really screwed us over. "That woman...she summoned some magic and formed this stone bridge from basically thin air." Saizo nodded sagely, and frowned.

"Lord Ryoma will have to hear that," he said. "He'll be interested in knowing she can control the Dragon Veins."

"Dragon Veins?," I said, "what are those?"

Saizo scoffed. "That's none of your business, bug." I rolled my eyes at Saizo and headed back to the fort.

* * *

Ryoma and his army left after a day with the fort. They made sure everyone was healed up, of course, and left a few more samurai to guard us, but overall they seemed nonplussed by the Nohrian attack. The fact that they had retreated so quickly after attacking- and that the Nohrians, other than Hans, hadn't tried to kill us, meant that our fort wasn't in too serious of an imminent threat. I learned that the four who had come as reinforcements to Corrin were the four royals of Nohr- Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise. Ryoma seemed distressed at the possibility that the Corrin who had attacked us was the same as his long-ago abducted sister, but he claimed that it must simply be coincidence and would say no more on the matter. He and his forces left the next day, though he directed Omozu to let me take charge of operation of the fort while he recovered from his wounds.

I hated operating that fort. Everyone coming to me to ask my opinion on the tiniest things- "Commander Jason, should we lead the patrol west or east first?" "Commander Jason, should we chop the maple or the spruce for firewood?". It was tedious and I felt like I would rather go careening into the canyon. The canyon's strength-sapping effect on me didn't help- I found it hard to stay awake most of the day or to sleep most of the night, and often drifted off into deep daydreams that were unrememberable except for the presence of purple flame surrounding me. The lack of restful sleep that I was getting, however, was just leading to paranoia and hallucinations. Eventually it got to the point that I had to get up and get outside, just to walk and get my mind of things.

The day was relatively clear, for a day at the fort. It had been 4 days since Ryoma left, and Omozu had almost recovered all of his strength. The thin grey mist that surrounded the canyon still hung over the woods along it- woods that were all knobby black trees and grey-green grass. If I hadn't had the sense of looming dread I did have it would've been almost peaceful, though. Watery sunlight dappled the ground and a light breeze drifted towards the canyon. I took a deep breath, my chest aching slightly. I had a bruise healing on my back, right below my ribs, but hopefully it didn't have a broken rib associated with it. Even with healing magic, it was hard to fix a broken bone well, especially if it wasn't set properly. I sat down at the base of a tree and leaned back, breathing slowly and concentrating on the pain.

I opened my eyes as I heard a loud chiming sound. Before me spun a circle of lights and runes in the air- a spell. I reached for my weapon but realized I had left it in the fort. _Stupid,_ I thought to myself, as a woman stumbled forwards from the light. She was armored and carried a large sword, her white hair drifting with the breeze. She let out a gasp and leaned forward on her sword, catching her breath, and then Corrin's eyes met mine.

She yelped and pulled her sword up in front of her. I stood sharply and started backing up. "Stay back!," said Corrin, looking like a scared kitten. "Don't make me do this!" I tried to steady myself, all the blood rushing to my head.

"I'm unarmed, Corrin," I said, breathing in and preparing to sprint back to the fort. "I'm not a threat. Just leave it be, and we can go our separate ways, okay?"

She stared at me, straight ahead. I could see the gears turning in her head- and I think she also was unsure as to how I knew her name. "You won't tell the Hoshidans you saw me here?"

I shook my head, putting more distance between me and the heavily armed Nohrian woman. "Not a word, if you let me go." She nodded, and started backing away. Suddenly, from behind Corrin, stumbling out of the trees, came a blur of movement.

"You're mine, Nohrian!", shouted a figure, swinging a heavy club down on Corrin's head from behind. The figure- a woman with white hair, heavily muscled, and with a bright red headdress. "Thanks for distracting her for me...Jason, right?" I raised an eyebrow. She nodded sternly. "We never met formally in the castle. I am Rinkah, of the Flame Tribe."

"Rinkah?," I exclaimed, "like the Hoshidan soldier who was captured?"

"Yes, that is me." Looking closely, I noticed that her face was marked with fresh bruises and cuts.

"And...Kaze? Saizo's brother?"

She smiled. "He's here. I was just scouting around while he set up a camp, though finding you means we may not need to make camp! What are you doing here?" I nodded.

"I'm stationed at the Hoshidan fort near here. This Nohrian woman attacked us with a group of soldiers four days ago...and then just now she popped out of a weird magic thing." I was confused- how had Rinkah and Kaze escaped? Weren't the Nohrian's merciless? "How'd you get out of the Nohrian fortress?," I asked.

"It was the strangest thing...that princess spared us. Her younger brother seemed to be ready to attack Kaze and I, but he only knocked us unconscious and then freed us." She looked pensive. "Good thing I got here in time! It looked like she was going to kill you." I frowned. Corrin hadn't looked like she was going to kill me. She looked...scared, if anything. "I'm going to go fetch Kaze, could you keep an eye on our fallen princess?"

"Yeah," I said. Rinkah limped off into the woods to get Kaze, and I stared at the sword that had fallen from Corrin's hands. I frowned, and propped Corrin up against a tree. If she was going to wake up after being knocked out, she might as well not be lying unceremoniously in the dirt. I looked at her sword. It was a wickedly curved sword, seemingly carved out of chipped obsidian. It's wrought iron handle curved back around in a strange pattern and it almost glowed in a blackish-purple light. I reached my hand out to touch it, but seemed to lose the will to do so on the way. I tried again, and then 'missed', which was intensely frustrating. The blade seemed to be...taunting me, somehow. I sighed and looked away from it, trying to get the weird sword out of my mind. It was like it was beckoning me, drawing my gaze, and yet...I couldn't even touch it.

My eyes kept drifting towards the sword. Something about it tugged at my mind and I kept thinking of the strange forgotten daydreams I had. The purple light around it pulsated in time with my heartbeat, and I kept trying to just...touch it. Fat chance. _What are you_ , I thought. There was something very wrong about Corrin's sword, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

Rinkah and Kaze snapped me out my growing obsession with the weird blade. " Jason, there's something we need to discuss," Rinkah said. "We have to take Corrin to another town- we can't trust the people at the fort here."

"What?," I said, "Why? Omozu is good people, you can trust him! And besides, I can't just leave my station…"

Kaze shook his head. "In this case it may be best to not bring Corrin too close to the people who nearly died at the hands of her soldiers. We might need to protect her, considering who she is."

"Who she is?," I said.

Kaze nodded. "As far as I'm sure, this is the same Corrin that was stolen from Sumeragi years ago. This is the Hoshidan Princess Corrin."

I nodded. "Where's the nearest safe town under Hoshidan control? If I explain to Ryoma the circumstances on why I left the fort I'm sure he'll understand? Omozu is recovered, they can run the fort in my absence." _I hope_ , I added in my head.

"We'll go to a village in Fire Tribe territory," Rinkah said. "And then from there to Castle Shirasagi, to the Queen."

"Understood," I said, though I didn't really understand anything about the situation. I hoped that bringing the two prisoners back, as well as the lost princess, might be good for my reputation, but I feared that I wouldn't even make it that far with a Nohrian princess on board.

* * *

" _I don't give a shit!" the man yelled, ignoring the fact it might get him killed. "I don't care, I don't care, I DON'T CARE!" Tears streamed down his face. "It's… It's your fault! I- We all trusted you! Why would you d-do this to me?" The fight was leaving the man, and his spirits quenched he sat down on the ground. "... I just want my friends back… I want my life back, I want a time when I didn't have to fight for the pleasure of waking up the next day. Why'd you do it?" The man glanced up, his anger still there but no longer possessing the energy to yell._

" _I told you," said the goddess, "the three of you were important in protecting this world."_

" _HOW?!" The man said. "If that was true then why are they… why did they die!? You said you would protect us, that you would help us, but you didn't do ANYTHING as they were killed! You've ruined everything. EVERYTHING!" The man stood up and threw a weak punch that phased right through the goddess. "You've taken everything from me, and gave me nothing... take me back. Just let me forget all of this."_

 _The goddess sighed. "I no longer have that power." she said. "You know this already. Why do you ask for the impossible? It will only make you feel more pain." She reached out a hand that the man smacked away immediately. She could have simply had his hand phase through her body again, but she decided he would feel slightly better if he got his way in this matter. The goddess didn't know what to do. On a certain level, he was right. None of this would have happened if she hadn't plucked him out of his own time and universe. She paused, then had an idea._

" _...Very well." She said. She held up her hand, and showed it to him as she completely materialized in his mind. She now occupied the physical space. "I will not let you kill me, but I understand your anger. You tried to strike me before. I will now give you the chance to do so. Do as you may." She closed her eyes and braced before even looking at his reaction. There was a silence. She heard the man stand up. She heard his fists clench. She heard him cry out in sadness and anger. She felt weight against her… but it was light. She opened her eyes. The man had his arms around her and was crying into her shoulder, uncontrollably. She sighed, smiling slightly, and ran a hand calmly through his hair. "I must go." She told him quietly._

" _N-no please, you're the only way I can win these fights, you're the only way I can get home! Pl-please." The man hardly choked out. He fell to his knees. "I can't keep doing this."_

 _The goddess stood him up and looked him in the eyes. "Matthew." She said. "By not striking me you've only strengthened my belief that you were the right choice of hero for me to bring into this world."_

" _I'm not a hero Naga." He said. "I'm not even a decent soldier. I'm just a kid."_

" _But you have the correct mindset for the trials ahead." She bit her lip, knowing how much more still was in store for him that he never could know. His trials were only beginning. She could say nothing about it. "I will see you again, sometime in the future, when you do not think it possible. But… I am watching you, and I will do my best to keep you and your son safe." She patted him on the shoulder. "I just wish you could realize the difference you've made already. I must perform the ritual for the Ylissian leader. After that my power will be mostly in his sword. Just know that."_

 _The man nodded slowly, staring at the ground. "... Ok…" He mumbled._

" _Just know." The goddess concluded, turning from him to let in the other members of the army. "You have done me proud, and I cannot thank you enough."_

* * *

 **A/N: "I'll Make a Man out of You" from Mulan** ← **Song mentioned in this chapter, for those of you who don't know it. Happy….Valentine's Day? President's Day? Birthday? Happy birthday, all you who happen to have a birthday/who are presidents. Hope you enjoy the chapter! This one was a little weird to write because it's a weird transition between action and...not action, so it the pacing is weird, but it happens in the game so I'm not too upset. Have a good one! :)**


	14. Death by Glamour (Matt)

The next day, I made my way around the castle aimlessly. Xander had left shortly after Corrin, apparently. He left a few notes on his desk that we, his retainers found after waking up with specific orders for each of us. Peri was being sent to assassinate a noble. I was going with her, sadly enough. We weren't leaving until later in the evening since, obviously, most assassinations tend to be at night. For now I had time to kill. Xander outlined that Peri would be the one to actually do the stabbing, meanwhile, I'd be distracting and fighting off the guards "with any means necessary" according to the note. Attached were details on the layout of the mansion, guard rotations, etc. Peri squealed when we found the note, saying that finally she could kill someone while in Xander's service. I just sighed at the fact I was going to be spending my evening with a psychopath. 'Laslow' seemed upset with his job, simply because it didn't involve one on one time with Peri.

"You're so lucky father!" He said sadly. "I have to go and judge the happiness of the townsfolk and you get to spend the whole night with Peri!"

"Maybe you'll meet a girl in town, eh?" I replied, hoping to cheer him up.

He sighed. "Not if Selena has anything to say about it." Poor guy. Apparently she was going with him, and Selena was hard on him when it came to hitting on women. I also often chided him, but I did it with a wink on my face. The way I saw it was that if my son wanted to be a playboy why stop him? It was harmless for now. Whenever he actually married someone would be another matter, but he'd cross that bridge whenever he got there. As I continued to walk around the castle I met with several people that I already knew. Effie was in the mess hall eating four plates of food. We exchanged words briefly before I left again. Arthur was hanging by his feet from a chandelier and when I asked him why he simply said luck wasn't on his side. I ran into a new face though, a man named Niles. When I said hello he just kind of… scoffed at me and walked off. I couldn't find any of the royal siblings, as it appeared they all left to go after Corrin, despite the king's orders. Unsure how to spend my time, I decided to pass the rest of it in the music room. I was told by a servant that it was no longer being cleaned.

I had brought all of my stuff with me so that I could leave as soon as necessary. I laid it on top of the piano and sat down to work on my craft. I was more in the mood to write rather than sing something already within my repertoire. I played random chords until I found a progression I liked. I'm terrible at making up lyrics on the spot, but the melodies come up easier. Olivia and I would do this sometimes, with me playing piano and her singing. It was a lovely duet, at least to me. We'd mess up quite a bit; that comes with hours of improvisation, we didn't care. As the time passed the lone window began to darken as the sun no longer shone through, until eventually I felt a warmth next to me. I looked over and saw pink hair. I jumped.

"OLI-" I started before I bit my tongue. Looking up more I saw the pink turn into a light blue. Peri. She wore her hair differently today, instead of straight back it was in two ponytails, presumably to keep it out of her face, but then she had a part of it covering her eye, the one that was green. She wore simple clothes, but there was a pack with her armor in it lying on the floor next to her. She smiled at me happily.

"Hi Matty!" She said. "Whatcha playing?"

"... Just…whatever comes to mind I guess."

"Fun! Do you know anything fun that we could sing together? Xander said that you can sing and I like singing every now and then!"

I really didn't want to do this. I looked out the window. "Um…" I began. "I think we should head out on our mission don't you? Wouldn't want to disappoint our Lord."

She pouted. "Yeah you're right. Later though, ok?"

 _No promises._ I thought. "Sure." I said. We got our stuff together and walked out of the room. "Lead the way." I said, laughing slightly. "Because I have no clue where the hell we're going."

* * *

Turns out we were only travelling about three miles away from the castle. When there was only half a mile or so left, we paused and put on our armor and weapons. To avoid making too much noise, this was limited. A thick piece of metal in our breast pocket in case of arrows, and some light leather armor. I'm sure Xander knew that stealth wasn't my strong suit, but I was supposed to be a distraction.

"Know why we're killing this guy?" Peri said excitedly, grabbing onto my arm.

I yanked my arm away and looked at her. "I don't really want to know-"

"Trading with the Hoshidans!" Peri yelled and twirled around. "Isn't that just the dirtiest thing to do to the person who gave you your nobility? He has it coming!" She bit her bottom lip and continued to skip around me as I got ready. I finished putting on all my stuff, and put on my trenchcoat to hid my elixirs and knives. The sword would be too obvious for how I was going to get in. This was my life now. _Kill me now._ I thought. _Actually, on second thought, she'd take that literally. Please don't kill me._

"Whatever you say, Peri." I sighed. She stopped skipping and leaned in towards me.

"Hey! Be more excited! It's our first mission together this is an important milestone in our relationship."

"We don't have even a working relationship yet, Peri."

"And that's exactly why we need to work together and get to know each other more over the course of this mission!" She said, hitting me with her elbow.

"...Right. Sure. Let's get going. Quiet now. You can handle the three people guarding our target once I get everyone else away, right?" I just wanted to confirm.

"Killing's what I'm good at," she said, matter of factly.

"Wonderful." I said under my breath. "You know the signal. Once I lead them away, be ready."

"I know all this already, geez." She said. "Come on you'll see, I'm capable!"

"I don't doubt it, Peri, I'm just double checking." We reached the edge of the woods, the closest we could get to the mansion without being spotted by any guards. The one entrance was through a gate on the south side, one that had one lookout who controlled it. From there the room that was the first you walked into was the parlor, followed by a private bar and a grand hall. Guards were stationed at the end of every hall, on the outside of the door frames. So, when you entered a hall, there would be a guard immediately on the right or left. From there I just needed to work my way to the second floor to the pavilion above the grand hall. The plan was to make as much noise as possible in the grand hall before leaving for the second floor. When all the guards gathered in the hall, I would appear and shout at them all from the second floor. Then, I'd wait until they appeared in the second floor and run for my life. The target was on the first floor, so Peri could waltz into his chambers, kill his guards and him, and get out. Once she gave the signal she was out, I was to leave the mansions premises.

"Alright Peri," I said in a hushed voice. "Stab me."

"Ok!" She said, "Where?"

"The arm, and a small graze on the side. Small ones, but make them look bad."

"Alrighty!" She said, pulling out a knife. I put a cloth from my bag into my mouth. "Good luck!" She stabbed me in the places I asked. I screamed through the gag, telling myself I'd been stabbed before and lived. I'd be fine. She didn't make them too deep, but deep enough to make them concerning. I stood slowly, adjusting to the pain. I took out my gag and breathed heavily. I looked at her and did a small salute.

"You too." I said. I hobbled up to the gate, holding my side telling myself it would be over soon. I had everything I needed for this mission, and this was a part of it. I finally made it to the gate. I focused through the pain. _Your name is Geitz, you're married with one kid, you're a merchant, you were getting robbed at night, you need medical attention inside, you sell spices, you will offer compensation for help._ It's possible I wouldn't need to say any of this, but I knew it was better to have answers ahead of time instead of coming up with them on the spot.

"H-Hello…?," I said raggedly to the guard on the other side of the gate. She jumped and turned around. Hopefully she was soft hearted, or this might take a while.

"Halt civilian. What do you need?" She asked.

I walked into the torchlight to better show off my wounds. She gasped and looked at me worriedly. "Please…" I said, stumbling. "I need… help… let me… inside…" I panted heavily and collapsed to the ground. I heard a shocked noise from the guard and the jingle of keys. I resisted the urge to smile. I heard the giant metal doors open and felt my head get lifted up. She looked at me concerned.

"I cannot have you dying here. It will cause a scandal for my liege. Please, come in, I'll fix you up, but then you _must_ leave immediately. Understood?"

I nodded weakly. She grabbed me by the arms and dragged me into the courtyard. She dropped me and went back to close the gate. I stood up slowly, making as little noise as possible. I pulled out my knife. I could still move, of course, but she didn't need to know that. As soon as I heard a click in the lock for the gate, I tackled her, putting a hand over her mouth and stabbing her in the side. She cried out against my hand and started to breathe heavily. I leaned into her ear.

"I'm sorry. I know it hurts. Here's whats going to happen. I'm going into the mansion. You're going to stand right here, at your post, and act like none of this happened. I have people watching, they'll know, and trust me, you don't want to give them a reason to kill you, because they will. Or, if you can't do that…" I dug the knife slightly further into the wound. "I could just kill you right now. Pick your poison." I wouldn't actually kill her if she refused to do so, it was just a scare tactic. She nodded.

"Ok." She said through my hand.

"Good." I said, getting off of her, leaving the knife in so she wouldn't bleed as she got up. "You're also going to need to let a blue haired woman through here. Again, do not resist, or I promise you, with her around you're as good as dead." She stared me down angrily, but she seemed to get the message. I passed her a elixir and took out my knife. She winced, as I cleaned the blade on my pant leg. I drank another elixir I had from my belt and felt my wounds close. I had two more, one in emergency if things went poorly. "Listen," I said to the guard as she drank the elixir, "It's nothing personal, really." I shook my head. I sounded like an idiot. I didn't even wait for a reply and dashed into the manor.

I was greeted by normal stone walls with more than a few cracks in them extending down the full length of the opening hall. Every now and then there would be a small table with a vase of sad looking flowers in it. I was reminded of what Inigo told me when we first arrived in Nohr, that the nobility was being killed and their riches taken by the royal family. Yet, this one wasn't rich at all. He seemed to hardly have anything, and his house was in desperate need of repair. I almost felt bad, but at the same time, this was why I didn't ask for details. I was just here to distract people. No one had to die because of me today, if I played my cards right. I made my way down the hall, thinking of the map in my mind. If I remembered it right, I would need to go through the door on the left, which was just an archway. That hallway would lead to another hallway with two guards, with the bedchamber in the center on the left. To the right would be windows that looked out at the forrest Peri was waiting in. I pulled out a knife and an elixir. I held the elixir with my thumb against the handle of the knife and held my back to the wall of the archway. I held the knife in a backward position in preparation to stab. I took a deep breath.

"Heads up!" I yelled at the top of my lungs running through the doorway and stabbing to my right. I felt the blade insert itself into the guard stationed there. They cried out in pain, and the guard on the other end of the hall fiddled for his weapon in surprise. I dropped the elixir at that guard's feet and pulled my knife out of him. I kept running down the hall, throwing my knife ahead of me into the leg of the guard. He cried out in pain as I ran past him, hoping over his body.

"Intruder in the house!" I heard him yell in pain. "Everyone, spread the word!" Within moments I heard a chorus of guards repeat the cry until I heard footsteps throughout the whole house. Taking out a larger dueling knife, I kicked a door that was supposed to lead to stairs. It didn't and I surprised a poor guard that was taking a bath. I stood there for a moment, blushing slightly, before shaking my head and running across the hall to the other door on this end. _This_ door lead to the stairs, and I began to climb them as fast as possible. This would bring me above the hall I was just in, and should look over it with a railing. Sure enough when I got to the top, to my left were the two guards, still on the ground in pain. I pulled out a medium sized rock from my coat pocket and through it through the center window. That was the signal. Peri would be making her way around to the gate now and I would need to keep the guards busy and away from this hallway until Peri broke another window in her escape. I kept running and found myself face to face with four guards. I turned around and was met with another three. The closed in on me slowly from either side. I backed up against the wall, and after weighing my options decided there was only one. Taking a running start, I leaped over the railing, ignoring my fear of heights. I landed, hurting my ankle, but alive. I looked back up and saw two guards readying spears. Without fully rising from my landing, I leaped to the side and rolled, hearing the spears clank to the ground behind me.

"Better luck next time!" I shouted, giving them a mock salute from the ground. I ran past the guard with my knife in his leg, and he tried desperately to grab me. I jumped over him again and found myself back in the hallway with the stairs and the bathroom. I made my way to the doorway of the stairs and readied my dueling knife. This was the side that had three guards. Three was easier than four. The first came through the door and I gave a quick thrust to his leg, tripping him up and causing his friends to fall on top of him in their rush. I kicked the top one off the pile and against the wall, knocking him out. The second one stood up and swung a sword at me. I stepped to the side, and left a small gash in his sword arm, causing him to drop his weapon. He retaliated by punching my chest, luckily enough on the metal plate in my breast pocket. He grasped his hand in pain and I shouldered him over his friend, still on the ground, so that he fell onto his back. I returned to the second floor and dashed over to the other end. On the way I saw that the window I broke was the only one broken, still. Peri wasn't done. I swallowed and kept running, beginning to lose my breath. I reached the other end and going through the door, was met with a sword to the side. I cried in pain as the blade left my body, sending out a lot of my blood with it. I fell to one knee. I looked up, the guard raising her sword to bring it down on my neck. I quickly flicked my wrist and stabbed her in the gut with my dueling knife. Her eyes went wide, she took two steps back, lowering her arms and falling backwards. I quickly undid the hook on one of my elixirs and drank it. I put the other one next to the guard that I had just stabbed, as I probably hit one or two organs. I was out of elixirs, so I needed to be more careful.

Just as I thought that, I heard glass break behind me. My eyes went wide, I turned around, only to get tackled by another guard. He pinned me down and smacked my knife out of my hands. Raising his fist, he punched me in the face. I managed to get my fists up to block most of the damage from the rest, but they still hurt like hell.

"P-Peri!" I yelled out, voice inhibited by my own blood in my throat. I continued to take a beating, unable to get a word in edgewise. The other guards began to come and see the spectacle, laughing, likely thinking that I was the only one in the house. They were soon corrected, as suddenly a spear head pierced my assailant's neck. I screamed in surprise and looked up to see Peri looking at everyone angrily.

"Leave him alone." She said coldly, way different from the bubbly personality I'd seen. The guards didn't need any more incentive and ran. That didn't stop Peri. As they ran she threw her spear into one, sending the guard to the ground. Peri yanked on a rope she had attached to the hilt, violently ripping the spear out. Blood pooled all around the guard as he moaned in pain. Peri walked up to him slowly, a menacing look of pure bliss on her face.

"P-Please…" The guard yelled meekly, holding his hand up to Peri. "I-I have a daughter, I won't attack you, I only was assigned here for money!" Peri kept advancing. The man got more desperate. "Please, I beg of you, you don't need to do thi- AUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!" He cried out in pain as Peri stabbed him in the same place as she threw the spear. I couldn't stand to watch it, but the body on top of me was too heavy.

"Peri, stop!" I yelled, trying my best to squirm out. She ignored me. The guard panted in exhaustion. Peri knelt next to him and lead a hand along his gaping wound, causing him to cry out yet again.

"So much blood…" She said, the hint of a laugh on her lips.

"Please… let me… go…" The guard was losing consciousness from the pain. "...Lilly… I'm… sorry…" The guard stopped squirming. I stopped struggling and looked at the scene in silence.

"...Peri…" I said in anger. She didn't hear me. Unable to move, we stayed like that for a minute or two until Peri skipped… _skipped_ over to me and helped me get the body off.

"We did it!" She said happily, smiling at me. I didn't say anything made my way down the stairs. She hummed a tune along as she skipped at my side. The whole hallway to the gate was filled with bodies. I had a sinking feeling as I went through the door to the gate. There slumped against the wall, was the guard who let me in, a giant hole in her neck. I froze. Dead silence. There was no sound from the mansion. I turned to my companion who smiled at me.

"...Our job was to kill the lord of the house Peri." I said.

"Aaaaaaaaand we did! Go team!" She said. I looked back at the body of the woman who let me in. _I'm sorry._ I thought. _I didn't know. I should've known._ "Hey what's got you down?" Peri said walking closer to me, concern in her eye. "We did it, this should be happy…" She placed a hand on my shoulder and I quickly slapped her hand away and turned to her. She yelped in surprise.

"Our job was to kill one man Peri! Not an entire fucking household!" I clenched my fists at my side, resisting the urge to pull out a knife and fight her. "Why did you kill everyone!?" I yelled.

She looked at me in shock. "They were in the way." She said flatly.

"In the way, huh?" I said in anger. I stomped over to the guard woman at the gate and pointed to her. "She let you in didn't she?"

"Yeah…?"

"So why did you kill her, did she attack you?"

"No, I-

"Then why the fuck-"

"Because she was there to kill!" She shouted finally. Silence.

"B-Because she was there…?" I said softly. Peri nodded, still surprised by the fact I was making a big deal out of this. I looked back down at the woman. How could anyone think like this. "... We're going back." I said, walking out of the gate.

"Hey, listen…" She said softly. I turned around and pointed at her. I felt some tears forming in my eyes.

"No, Peri, you listen to me." I said. "I don't know what fucked up reason you have for doing this, but I'm letting you know right this very second that if this _ever_ happens again on a mission, I am not only never going on a mission with you again, but I'm going to end your life." Her eyes went wide.

"B-b-b-but, we're allies!" She stuttered out.

I shook my head. "Not if this keeps up. I will kill you, and I make it a _point_ to kill as few people as possible, so that's saying a lot. Don't think that you could run either because even if you hopped dimensions, I'd find you." I turned around and marched into the woods. "I will." On that note I heard Peri follow me slowly behind. The trip back to the castle was made in silence. When I did get back finally, I split off from Peri immediately, went into my room and laid down in my bed.

"How was your night with the ever mysterious Peri?" Inigo said, wishfully.

"Fuck off kid." I said, pulling my blanket up to my neck. I felt him immediately withdraw, and felt instant regret. _Damnit Matthew._ I thought to myself as I drifted away to sleep. _Can't you do fucking anything right tonight?_

 ** _A/N:_** Hi. No song here, doesn't really fit don't you think? No flashback either, we're saving some of them because we've realized this thing is going to be _very_ long. But hey, the two paths are synched now and happening at relatively the same time to each other. That's good, right? No more confusing time differences. Enjoy your night. -Matt


End file.
